


If You're Gonna Be The Death Of Me

by Mcusekat



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Fake AH Crew, Freewood - Freeform, GTAverse, Getting Together, M/M, Slice of Life, Trans Jack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-24
Updated: 2015-10-09
Packaged: 2018-04-16 23:46:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 22,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4644555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mcusekat/pseuds/Mcusekat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ryan has recently joined the crew and is adjusting to life with the others. Meanwhile, something is uncovered during a heist and suddenly everyone is left with an important decision to make concerning the future of the Fake AH Crew.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 10, Feb 2016- Almost 200 kudos! I can't believe it! This was one of the first AH fics I ever wrote after watching their videos for almost 2 years.
> 
> I almost stopped writing this several times in the process, having never wrote a fic so long, and by the time I started posting it I kind of hated it. But every week people left kudos and nice comments, so I persisted, and I'm happy I did! (Almost) 200 kudos! That's 200 people who liked my story (or pitied me, but either way).
> 
> This fic is my second most liked story on this account, including my older works and the stuff I deleted.
> 
> Anywho, rambling aside, thank you to everyone who enjoys this fic, whether you leave kudos or not. I'm not the best writer in the world, I know have a lot of room to grow, and sometimes I hate what I write, but seeing the kudos and reading the lovely comments people leave really keeps me going. So thank you.
> 
> <3

 Gavin was the first one to befriend Ryan when he joined the team. Mostly because no one told Ryan he didn’t have to play along with Gavin’s hypothetical questions but also because he wasn’t afraid of the Vagabond.

 The others were quick to follow though. It only took a couple dick jokes for Michael and Geoff to relax around him more, and he'd earned Ray’s respect after beating him at Halo. Jack was easy to talk to in general, and they shared common ground on a lot of things, so that came naturally.

 But even after getting more friendly, he was still closer to Gavin than the other. They had a casual sort of affection. If they sat together, guaranteed at least one part of their body would be touching. Gavin made habit of resting his head on Ryan’s shoulder, Ryan made habit of playing with the slight curl of hair at Gavin’s neck. Some of it was more subtle, too, like the way Gavin would pat Ryan’s thigh to get his attention if they were sat beside each other, or the way Ryan would brush their hands together occasionally if they were walking side by side.

 It confounded the others, really, especially Geoff.

 Before Ryan, Gavin's closest friend had been Michael. Because of this, Geoff assumed he'd have some choice words about Ryan, so he pulled the lad aside one day to ask him.

 “So, what do you think about Ryan?” Geoff asked, closing the door behind them quietly. The conference room at the end of the hall was empty and soundproof, perfect for gossiping about their friends.

 Michael shrugged, giving Geoff a weird look. “I dunno. Haven’t seen him in action yet.”

 “What about him and Gav?”

 At this, Michael frowned. “What're you getting at?”

 “Well, they’ve been getting pretty friendly lately..” Geoff trailed off.

 “You think they’re touching dicks?”

 “No!" Geoff said, then added under his breath; "Not yet..”

 Michael’s frown deepened.

 “How do you feel about that?” Geoff pressed.

 “I don’t know…” Michael rubbed the back of his neck. “I mean, it’s nice to have him out of my hair. It’s not like he completely abandoned me.”

 Geoff caught sight of Gavin walking by through the one way thin rectangle window on the door. Geoff and Michael met eyes then opened the door to stop him.

 “Hey Gav, come in here a minute would ya?” Geoff said, opening the door enough for Gavin to enter.

 Gavin gave them a hesitant look.

 “What’s up,” he asked. He turned one of the seats to face them and sat.

 Geoff looked over at Michael, before glancing at Gavin. “So what’s up, buddy? Where you heading?”

 “Kitchen. I’m a bit nippish. Why?”

 “Just wondering,” Geoff said. “Where’s Ryan?” There was an upwards lilt at the end of his sentences that made Gavin frown.

 “I dunno. Living room probably..” Gavin said cautiously. “What’s happening?”

 Geoff threw his hands up in defense. “Nothing, nothing! Just wondering. It’s my job as the boss to keep tabs on everyone, y’know?”

 “I guess?” Gavin said. “You’re being shady right now Geoff and I can’t say I appreciate it.” He crossed his arms over his chest.

 “Alright alright, I’ll stop.” He put up his hands again, in defeat this time. He changed the subject quickly. “Anyways, there’s a meeting tonight. Mandatory. Tell Ryan for me too, would ya?” He grinned at that.

 Geoff looked over at Michael and they left the room. Gavin sat uneasily before exiting and walking to the kitchen.

 The kitchen was an open so Gavin could see into the living room from where he stood behind the counter. He could see that the tv was on, and that Ryan was watching some show about space or something science-y.

 Ryan had heard the fridge open and he turned to the sound. “Hey Gav,” he said before moving to join him at the counter.

 Gavin glanced around and smiled. “Hey Rye. What’s up?”

 “Nothing. Gotta say though, when I joined the Fake AH Crew I thought it would be more action and less sitting around.” Ryan settled in a bar stool and sighed. “I don’t know how much longer I can take sitting around all day."

 “Well, it’d be unreasonable to do a heist every day,” Gavin said.

 “Well I’m not saying every day,” Ryan said, shrugging.

 Gavin turned to the counter, finding nothing in the fridge. He leaned on the counter opposite Ryan and smiled at him.

 “There's a meeting tonight in the conference room for a heist, actually.”

 Ryan raised an eyebrow. “Really? What time?”

 Gavin shrugged. “Dunno. Geoff usually just texts me when it’s time to come down. M not good with time anyway.” Gavin reached up and opened the cabinet. Geoff, despite being filthy rich, never liked cooking so there wasn’t much. It was mainly boxed pastas and canned vegetables lining the shelves, and nothing sounded appealing to him.

 “I’ll ask him later.” He looked towards Gavin. “What’re you making?”

 He shut the cabinet and frowned. “Nothing. There’s not crap in here,” he huffed. “How pissed do you think Geoff would be if I ordered a pizza to the ‘secret base?’” He made air quotations around secret base. It was really just an apartment building where they all lived up on the top level, penthouse.

 Ryan chuckled. “We can go pick one up if you want?”

 Gavin smiled. “Really?”

 “Sure, why not? Sounds good anyways.”

 “Lovely Ryan. I’ll pay,” Gavin said. “Are we talking your car?”

 “The Pegassi?”

 Gavin nodded, grinning. “Yes.”

 Ryan smiled and shrugged. “Sure, why not.”

 “Let me get my coat from my room real quick.”

 “I’ll meet you in the garage.” Ryan stood and started towards the door. Gavin paused and watched him for a moment with a faint smile before turning and heading down the hall.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heist planning and other stuff.

 Geoff, Jack and Ryan were the only people in the conference room come 7pm. They sat in silence for ten minutes before Geoff cursed and sent out a text. “You know,” he muttered, tapping out his text angrily, “If they weren’t good at their jobs I would have fired their asses a long time ago.”

 5 minutes later Ray showed up in his pajamas on his 3ds. He pulled out his chair, sat in it, then propped his feet up. Michael was right behind him with Gavin in tow. Without even thinking he sat beside Ryan, and Michael right beside him.

 “It’s 7:20. You guys should have been here 20 minutes ago. Ray, put your game away. Fuck,” Geoff said bitterly. Ray groaned dramatically before closing it and shoving it in his pocket.

 “Oh, Ray, is that the new Pokemon game?” Michael asked suddenly.

 “Yeah,” Ray said.

 “Is it good?”

 Ray made a noncommittal noise before replying. “Eh, it’s alright. I think the mega evolutions are a little overdone but it’s still awes-”

 “Guys!” Geoff said, slamming his hands on the table. “Shut the fuck up, let’s get to work.”

 He unfurled a map with sharpie marks all over it and started explaining the plan before anyone else could interrupt. 

 “Okay, Ryan since this is your first heist on our crew you have a kind of small part. Is that fine?”

 Ryan nodded. “S’pose I don’t have a choice anyways,” he said, and Geoff smiled.

 “Now, we’re going to be hitting Los Santos bank, right here. It’s the end of the week, right before the money gets shipped out so we should get out with a decent amount.

 “Now, Ray you’ll be on the roof of the convenience store across the street picking off as many cops as you can. Michael, before we even go in, you’ll be setting up explosives on this building,” he pointed to the shop right next to the bank. You’ll blow it up as soon as you think it’s safe to distract the police. After you’re done setting up join Ray on the roof and grenade any police vehicles you see. Jack, you’ll be in a car behind the bank in the alleyway. As soon as we have the cash we’ll- Ryan and I- will get in the car and you take us here-” he traced a black sharpie mark to a place near Chilliad, “To base. You guys got that much?”

 He looked up and everyone nodded. “Good. Now, Michael and Ray, it won’t take long for the cops to find your position so you guys need to get out fast and quiet. There’ll be a van out back a block from the store here. That’s where you’ll be Gav-”

 “Am I driving?” he grinned.

 “Hell no. Michael is. You’ll be in the back on tech duty. You need to watch for any things that might hitch our plan, like traffic or car accidents. You’ll also be monitoring the police scanner and giving us any updates you can.”

 “I’m so tired of sitting in the van, Geoff,” he complained, but Geoff ignored him.

 “Any questions?” Geoff said.

 “Yeah, how are we getting in the place?” Ryan asked. “Are we just walking in the front door?”

 “Oh, shit! I forgot that part. I’m use to doing this bit alone,” Geoff smiled before continuing. “One of us is going in the front, the other is going in from the back. The front will be a distraction while the other goes for the safes. I was thinking you go front. People know the Vagabond so I don’t think anyone will try to play hero.”

 Ryan grinned. “Sounds great!”

 “Awesome! Next week on Tuesday is when we strike, giving us 8 days to prepare. Make sure you’ve got everything you need.”

 Gavin recognized what Geoff was doing. He still wasn’t completely sure about Ryan, or Vagabond. He had a reputation, a higher death toll than everyone in the room combined. He was still afraid of the Vagabond.

 Ryan had been the one to approach them.

 The Vagabond use to be centered in a different city, Liberty city. No one was sure why the sudden move, but it worried Geoff. Even here, thousands of miles away, he had a reputation. Hell, overseas, in Europe people knew the Vagabond. He was FBI's most wanted for 3 years straight, but he was careful.

 Geoff has sent runners to gather information about the Vagabond. It was just in case he became a threat to the crew at some point. But Ryan had found out and decided to confront Geoff.

 But he’d heard of their crew, (as most criminals had at some point) and decided he would take a job if it was offered. Of course Geoff jumped at the opportunity. It wasn’t every day the Vagabond offered to work for someone. Several gangs had actually looked into getting him on their side too, but he was elusive. Geoff was unsure of his reasonings, still was, but he’d be a fool to tell the Vagabond he couldn’t join the crew.

 Gavin wasn’t afraid of Ryan. He was a good judge of character and he could tell Ryan was acting. The Vagabond was a character, albeit a scary one.

 After the meeting, the room cleared relatively fast.  Michael and Ray went to their respective bedrooms, Gavin the living room. Geoff and Ryan lingered back to sort out the smaller details, as Geoff had expected. Ryan was cautious, he'd have been dead long ago if

 Ray came in an hour later and sat beside Gavin. Gavin looked over and smiled. “Hey Ray, what’s up?”

 “Couldn’t sleep,” he grumbled. “Where's the second controller?”

 “In the game cabinet.”

 They played in silence for awhile before Ray finally spoke up. “Where’s Ryan?”

 “I dunno,” he said. After a moment he glanced over. “Why?”

 Ray shrugged, but didn’t speak. Gavin frowned but turned his focus back on the game just in time to watch Ray kill his character. Ray snickered and Gavin turned back to scowl at him.

 Geoff came in and sat on the other side of Gavin.

 “Whats the score?” he asked.

 “17 to 8, me,” Ray said.

 “You fucking suck, Gav,” Geoff said, punching Gavin’s arm.

 “Shut up! Ray’s just good at this. I was doing very well before he came along.”

 “Sure you were, buddy,” Geoff said. He crossed his arms over his chest and stretched out.

 Ryan entered the kitchen a little after that. Geoff twisted to face him before standing up and walking to the kitchen.

 “You nervous?” he asked, and Ryan shrugged.

 “Not really. Life risking is in the job description,” Ryan said. He pulled a slice of leftover pizza out of the fridge and onto the plate. “Want a piece?”

 “No thanks. And you can still be nervous, y’know. Just cause it’s expected doesn’t mean you can’t fear it.”

 “Thanks Doctor Phil,” Ryan said. “Hey, I appreciate your concern but I’d rather not stress over every deadly situation I put myself in. I would probably give myself a brain aneurysm.”

 Geoff shrugged. “Hey, if that works for you I guess.”

 The microwave beeped and Ryan grabbed his food out.

 “I was thinking about going to the shooting gallery outside of town tomorrow if you’d like to come with,” Ryan offered.

 Geoff thought for a moment, trying to remember his schedule. “Depends. What time?”

 “I get in free after closing hours because I did the guy who owns it a favor, so any time after 8 I guess.”

 Geoff smiled. “Sounds great, yeah. I’ll ask around.”

 “Awesome! We’ll be the only ones there so don’t worry about bringing the big guns.” He smiled at Geoff before turning and disappearing into the hall.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We learn more about Ray. Mostly exposition.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably the shortest chapter in the whole fic but the next one is possibly the longest. It's a good one too B)  
> Please leave comments and kudos if you like the story so far!

 One of the Vagabonds specialties was being a jack of all trades, which included sharp-shooting. He was a bit rusty after a month long break but it didn’t take him long to start hitting dead center on every shot. Him and Ray were the first to get bored by the lack of challenge, so they went to make challenges for themselves.

 The shooting gallery was on the edge of town next to the freeway so there was a large expanse of not much by the gallery. They walked out a ways and set up 10 or so cans, then climbed on top of the building with Ray’s rifle and tried to hit them.

 The others were still inside when they finished (ran out of bullets) so they sat back and relaxed. Ray had brought his ds and played the game. Ryan watched his screen absently.

 “Is that a good game?” Ryan asked. He cringed. Small talk was the worst.

 “Pokemon?” Ray looked up at him curiously. “Yeah it’s alright.”

 Ryan nodded then looked down at the case between them, holding the pink gun.

 “Why’d you choose pink?” he asked.

 “Because I’m secure with my masculinity,”

 “It’s a little… gaudy don’t you think. It’s easier to get spotted when you have that bright pink gun.”

 Ray shrugged. “No one ever looks up. And I’m fast anyways so it doesn’t matter,” he shrugged, a slight smile.

 Ray did have a good record. He was famous in this job, with a 100% success rate. Ryan had watched his rise to fame, and it was fast. He’d gone from some unknown to one of the most sought after assassins on the market in under a month. Even more impressive was how young he was. Still is. Even Ryan didn’t have his record when he was his age.

 “Why did you decide to join the crew?” Ryan asked.

 It was dimmer now, the sun setting in the sky. It was pretty out, this far away from the city. It never got dark completely there because of the light pollution. Seeing the stars, even the few bright enough to come out during sunset, was wonderful.

 “I was still young, y’know. I got big so fast that I never learned how to protect myself. I sucked at hand to hand, I still kinda do. I needed the protection.” He shrugged, but he turned away so Ryan couldn’t see his face.

 “Do you like it with the crew?”

 Ray glanced up. “Yeah, of course. Do you like it here?”

 “Yes, so far. I’ve never really done this before.”

 “Don’t worry, we’ll go easy,” Ray said, grinning at his own joke.

 Ryan just scoffed and looked over. “Been with a crew I mean.”

 “So, what’s going on with you and Gavin?” Ray asked after a moments silence.

 “Nothing, why?” Ryan said. He looked at Ray.

 “You’ve just been hanging out a lot lately. Kind of an unlikely duo, y’know. You’re some infamous merc and he’s, well, Gavin.”

 Ryan shrugged. “He’s a good kid. Opposites attract I guess.”

 “Do you like-like him?” Ray pressed jokingly.

 Ryan felt a shockwave go through him. He suddenly worried if he was being to obvious. He wondered if anyone else knew, if Gavin knew. “Gavin? Nah. Why?”

 Ray chuckled and shook his head. “Just pay more attention to Gav when you two hang out. You’ll figure it out, probably.”

 The other 4 came onto the roof not long after that. It was pitch black at that point, and Ray and Ryan were both silent. Ryan was mulling over the words in his head. He wasn’t dumb, and he knew what Ray was talking about. Gavin was into him, and the feeling was certainly mutual. Gavin was smart and handsome and nice but he wasn’t sure if he wanted a relationship at the moment. He had a lot going on in his life; this all couldn’t come at a more inconvenient time for him.

 He was getting older though, and he did want to find someone to settle with. Someone not familiar with the business wouldn’t do, so Gavin was perfect. He knew the business, the risks of the business, and if he was willing to try this out with Ryan he was accepting the risks.

 An hour later found Ryan and Gavin sitting on the couch together. His arm was slung over the back of the couch behind Gavin, like normal. Ryan kept thinking about what Ray had said, or not said rather.

 Ryan looked over at Gavin and examined him for a moment. He looked comfortable, slouched into the couch and eyes on the film absently. Unaffected.

 Ryan sighed and turned back to the movie. Nothing was happening tonight, so he dropped it. He let himself pretend this was how it had been before Ray told him about Gavin’s feelings.

 Gavin leaned closer to him, resting his head on Ryan’s shoulder, and Ryan let him.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pre heist preparation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alcohol and drug mentions near the beginning, when Ryan is talking to Geoff and Ray (separately).  
>   
> Anyways, I hope you guys have been enjoying the story so far!

  The morning of the heist was a hectic one. Geoff was on the phone for an hour with backup, making sure they were prepared for every possible scenario. Jack and Ryan were driving around Los Santos, dropping off the cars and making sure their escape routes and backup escape routes were clear.

  When they got back home Jack made them all lunch and they all sat around the couch with the news on the tv and a police scanner on the table. They discussed the heist, making sure everyone was perfectly clear and completely ready. On the table sat several duffles full of guns, ammo, and body armour and they chose and cleaned their weapons and checked then double checked it was all in working order.

  After this they all dispersed again, getting back to their independent jobs.Ryan, having nothing else to do, decided to see if he could help anyone.

  The garage was a clean white color, and about 30 high class cars lined the walls. They belonged to all the members; Ryan saw his Pegassi near the end of the rows. Jack was sitting at the workbench near the entryway. She was hunched over a map, memorizing the route. Michael was in the living room doing the same.

  “Hey Ryan,” she greeted him without turning around. Her voice was tense and her red hair was messy, like she’d been running her hand through it.

  “Hey. You alright?” he asked.

  She shrugged. “Great. I just want to get this over with. Every time we heist it’s like gambling, y’know. We’ve been lucky so far, no one’s died.”

  “It’s not luck, it’s skill. We’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it. What is this, like, your hundredth heist?”

  Jack chuckled and shook her head slowly. “Over worrying runs in my family, from my mom’s side.” She ran a hand through her hair. “Yeah, we’ll be fine. Tonight we’ll all get wasted and everything will be fine.”

  Ryan smiled and clapped her back. “That’s the spirit.” She smiled back up at him, then turned back to the map.

  “Thanks Ryan.” She smiled back at him before turning to the map.

  Ryan found Geoff in the living room with Michael. He was laying on the couch and flipping through the channels on the tv. His fingers drummed impatiently on his stomach and he looked bored. Michael was staring at the marks made on the map, tracing them with a finger.

  “Hey Ryan, what’s up buddy?” Geoff asked.

  “Nothing. Just got back from talking to Jack.”

  Geoff raised his head up in interest. “How is she?”

  “Stressed.”

  Geoff shrugged. “Yeah. Not much you can do about that. She’ll be fine, though.”

  “How are you?” Ryan asked.

  “Me? I’m fucking great.”

  “He just took a shot.” Michael spoke up.

  Ryan shot Geoff a sharp glare. “You’re getting drunk before a heist?”

  Geoff waved him off. “I’ll be sober before it starts, calm down.”

  Ryan ran a hand through his hair tensely. “Alright, fine whatever.” Out of the nearly 20 heists the crew had pulled, only one had gone wrong and he could only assume by Michael’s calm demeanor about it that he did this every time. He let it go for now, but told himself he wouldn’t go on a heist where Geoff was shitfaced.

  He walked out of the living room towards Gavin’s room. Gavin answered the door quickly, then greeted Ryan with a smile.

  “Hey Rye. What’s going on?”

  “Nothing. Just came back to check on you.” Ryan peeked past Gavin at the mess behind him. Cords and wires and discarded food wrappers littered the floor, the bed was unmade, the empty electronics boxes and wires all over it with the only clean space being on top of his computer desk. “You alright in there?”

 Gavin noticed Ryan staring at the mess and added “It’s controlled chaos.”

  “Alright, if you say so. Do you need any help?”

  “Nah, I’m just checking the tech again. I don’t want anything to malfunction on the heist. Actually if you don’t mind though I could use a drink.”

  “Sure. Red Bull?”

  Gavin smiled. “You know me so well. Thank you, love.”

  Ryan smiled to himself as he walked out of Gavin’s room.

  Ray was sitting on the counter eating the leftover pizza when Ryan walked in the kitchen. Ryan nodded a greeting.  

  “Hey Ryan. What’s up?”

  “Nothing. Jeez, you smell like weed.”

  Ray grinned. “Yeah?”

  “Why is everyone getting intoxicated before the heist?” he asked.

  “I’ll be sober when the heist stops, don’t worry.”

  “Geoff said the same thing,” Ryan remarked. He reached in the fridge and pulled out a Red Bull.

  “You drink energy drinks? I took you for the ‘care for my body, for it is my temple’ type person.”

  “This is for Gavin. And I’m not a health freak, what made you think I was?”

  “You’re pretty solid, man,” Ray said, eyeing him.

  “Thank you, I think?”

  “No problem man. Could you get me a Red Bull too?”

  Ryan smiled. “Was that your aim?” he said as he dug in the fridge and handed Ray a can.

  Ray smiled back. “Maybe.”

  Gavin’s door was already open when Ryan approached. He knocked on the frame before carefully sliding the door open.

  “Hey Rye. Do you have the time?”

  “We have an hour until the heist, it’s 11:30.”

  “Alright, thanks. I think I’m done here, then.” Gavin got up and dusted his pants, then sat back on his bed. ”What’s everyone else doing?”

  “Michael and Jack are looking at the map, Geoff is watching tv, Ray is eating.”

  Gavin crossed the room and stood in front of the door. His shoulders were slumped shyly and he was examining something on the floor. A sense of worry came over Ryan as he assumed what came next. “Alright. What are you, uh, going to do with your spare hour?” Gavin’s voice was a little hesitant as the words came out and Ryan knew what he was thinking about. And suddenly he was considering it, too.

  What if, by some horrible disaster, one or both of them did die on the heist? Ryan wasn’t the type to overthink everything, but he couldn’t help but think these things now. He didn’t want to regret having not done anything in that moment. His decision was made.

  “Hey,” Ryan said, placing a hand on Gavin’s elbow to stop him.

  “Yeah?” Gavin turned to face Ryan with a hopeful look.

  In one swift motion Ryan’s lips were on Gavin’s. Gavin was quick to respond, one hand wrapping around the back of Ryan’s neck to keep him closer and the other on his shoulder. Ryan felt his skin tingle at Gavin’s touch, like a static electricity that went straight to his groin.

  He slid a hand through Gavin’s hair then tugged lightly. Ryan used this to tilt Gavin’s head into a more comfortable position, then licked into his mouth. He hooked his fingers in Gavin’s belt loops and tugged his hips. Ryan rolled his hips against Gavin’s and Gavin moaned. Ryan had to pull away to breath, and buried his face in Gavin’s neck.

  He rolled his hips forward again emitting a low noise from Gavin. He could feel his breath across his neck, warm and stuttered. He shivered and the hand on Gavin’s hip tightened.

  And suddenly the denim was too much, so he down and started to undo Gavin’s belt. Gavin’s hips pushed forward into Ryan’s hands. Ryan moved his mouth to Gavin’s neck and he kissed along the vein.

  “Rye,” Gavin gasped, and he paused.

  “Yeah?” he said leaning his forehead against Gavin’s.

  “Bed,” he said quickly before grabbing Ryan’s wrist and leading him there.

  He pushed Ryan down to a sitting position and straddled his hips before leaning down and kissing him again. He undid his own belt and pulled it off and flung it aside, then undid the button on his jeans. When that was done he turned his attention to Ryan. He pushed off his jacket then hesitantly moved to his neck.

  “Do you mind if I leave a mark?” Gavin asked.

  “Only if you do,” he breathed.

  “Please do,” Gavin said before moving back to Ryan’s neck. He made it low enough to be easy to hide, just below the conjunction on Ryan’s shoulder. His tongue was warm and his teeth were gentle against Ryan’s skin.

  Ryan’s hand slid up his sides, pulling his shirt up slowly and feeling his skin. Gavin leaned into the touch, enjoying the drag of Ryan’s fingers on his skin. Gavin pulled off Ryan so Ryan pulled his shirt the rest of the way off. He moved Gavin so he was laying on his back, then straddled his waist. “Is this okay?” he asked.

  “Great,” Gavin said, pulling Ryan back down by his shoulders. Ryan went for Gavin’s neck, leaving his own mark just below his collarbone. He moved up higher for the next one, at the conjunction of his neck and shoulder, then his mid neck, and just behind his ear. Gavin felt overstimulated, dying to be touched. His hips rose off the bed and met Ryan’s. Ryan moaned, and Gavin moaned in response.

  Ryan sat up to pull his shirt off. Gavin’s fingers immediately went out to trace over the skin. Ryan has numerous scars over his body; a stab wound on his side, a couple bullet scars, etc. He was also very taut, muscular, and lean. Gavin’s finger traced over his sides slowly, then up his torso to his shoulders and down his arms. Ryan let him, sitting still and watching Gavin’s face. The moment gave him time to think, time to appreciate where he was right now, on top of Gavin in Gavin’s bed, with Gavin’s fingers on his body.

  “You’re so fit,” he muttered quietly, pulling Ryan from his thoughts. He pulled him back down for another kiss. Ryan’s hands went between their bodies and he pulled off his own belt. He had to climb up to take off his jeans, and Gavin hurriedly did the same.

  Suddenly they were both naked. Gavin felt a little insecure, but Ryan was back on him quickly, licking into his mouth and running his hands down his hips. He touched Gavin’s cock carefully, experimentally. Gavin’s breath hitched and he rutted his hips up.

  “Rye-” he gasped. “Please.”

  “Do you have..?” Ryan asked.

  “Top shelf,” Gavin said, waving a hand in the general direction of the nightstand.

  “Let me,” Gavin said, taking the bottle from Ryan. He poured some into his palm and started on Ryan, coating his cock and tugging gently. There was a moment of stillness as they wondered how to do this. Eventually Ryan took the bottle and started on Gavin’s. It was a little awkward at first, but after a moment they figured it out.

  It didn’t take long for Gavin to come, panting Ryan’s name. Ryan followed soon after, then he collapsed to the side of Gavin, breathless.

  They were silent, just the sound of them struggling to catch their breaths. After a moment Gavin grabbed a tissue and wiped them off. Ryan watched him, a little hazy with sleep.

  “You’re amazing, Rye,” Gavin said, sliding back down to lay with him.

  Ryan smiled and pulled him close, kissing him quickly. “I’m not that great at pillow talk,” he said, and Gavin smiled.

  Gavin leaned in to kiss him again, then pulled up and turned to look at the clock. “Bollocks. We need to get dressed.”


	5. Heist!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> LLLets heist!

  Ryan was smoking in the passenger seat of the getaway car, mask hitched above his nose. His hands were a little shaky but the burn of smoke in his lungs was calming him down. Jack was listening to the police scanner on the dashboard and Ryan listening absently. It was petty crimes, mostly, some guy caught with weed or a teen shoplifting. Mostly he was listening to his earpiece, waiting for his signal. It was white noise now; everyone was waiting for Michael to finish arming the building beside the bank.

  It was a tense couple of minutes. When Michael’s voice sounded on the earpiece it startled Ryan a little.

  “Done.”

  “Alright, everybody get into position. Ray, you good up there?” Geoff said.

  “I’m great.”

  “What’s the bank look like?” Ryan asked.

  “A couple pedestrians, nothing major. There’s probably about 20-30 people in there. I didn’t see anyone who looked like they would fight back so you should be good Ryan.”

  “Okay. Everyone in position. Ryan, don’t start until I say go.”

  He pulled on his mask and stood. He unzipped his case and lifted his gun out. He hauled the strap over his shoulder and tested it to make sure he could grab it easily. Jack looked up at him and handed him extra ammo.

  “Watch your back out there. I know you probably don’t need me to say it but it makes me feel better to. So stay safe.”

  “Thanks Jack,” Ryan said honestly. She smiled at him, and he moved out.

  He had to stay hidden until Geoff gave his word, so he crouched in the alleyway between the bank and the shop next door and watched the entrance. He looked up and saw the shadowed figure of Ray on the building across the street. He was well hidden; Ryan wouldn’t have seen him if he didn’t know what to look for. Even with the neon pink gun.

  “I was able to disarm the panic button which should buy you guys 30 seconds at most. There’s too many phones in there though so I can’t do anything about that,” Gavin said.

  “Nice job, Gav,” Geoff said. “Everyone in position. Ryan?” Ryan muttered an affirmative. “Alright, ready? And on 3, 1. 2. 3. Go!”

  Ryan stepped away from the shadows and into the bank. He drew his gun out, and the heist began.

  “Everyone down, this is a hold up!” He yelled before firing a single shot into the air. Everyone got down fast so he strided to the teller's counter and threw his bag onto the desk. “Everything you’ve got into that bag, you have one minute. Drop anything and you’re dead.” He aimed the nozzle of his gun at the teller's head through the bars.

  The teller, to Ryan’s relief, was a smart woman. She hurriedly shoved everything into the bag then slid it back to him. He passed it along to the other tellers, all obeying easily, and when he reached the end of the line his bag was as full as it would get. He slung it over and raised his gun.

  “Good. Now, all of you get back from behind the desk.” They filed out slowly, carefully with their hands up. He guided them to where the rest of the people were at the north wall, and they sat and obeyed quietly. He smiled under his mask. This was going swimmingly.

  He checked his watch. He still had at least a minute before the police showed up and Geoff was probably still in the back getting the money from the safes. He paced to the window and peeked outside. Nothing yet but he could hear sirens faintly in the distance. He turned to look at the crowd. They all pressed themselves closer to the wall.

  “Geoff, status,” he said lowly so no one could hear him.

  “I’m still in the back. Got 3 bags, at least 4 mil.”

  “I’m done up front. Am I good to go?”

  “We have to get there at the same time, otherwise you might compromise Jack’s position before I can get to it. Let me get one more bag and I’ll tell you when. Sound good?”

  “Yeah.”

  Ryan adjusted his gun and watched the crowd. They all watched him with wide eyes. They knew who he was. He’d probably been on the news more times than the president at that point so he wasn’t surprised.

  It was dead silent, and the whirring of sirens was getting ever closer. He almost wished someone would do something, make this more interesting. He wasn’t used to things going so well.  

  “The cops are getting closer. Get out as soon as you can,” Gavin said.

  “Everybody up!” Ryan yelled. Everyone stood up and he herded them towards the door. “Listen, you’ll all make it out of here alive if you do what I say in a calm manner, okay? When you get out there you line up in front of the sidewalk and do not turn around, okay? The police will be here in 30 seconds and you’ll be fine.”

  “Alright Ryan, I’m done. Get to the van fast,” Geoff said in his ear. “Michael, Ray, you guys okay?”

  “Yeah, fine,” Michael said.

  “Jack, you ready for us?”

  “Yep.”

  The people lined up on the sidewalk and Ryan was able to get out of sight just as the police arrived. He didn’t have time to turn around and look but judging from the deafening cacophony of sirens he would guess about 5-10 cars.

  He climbed in the back, and strapped in just as the door flew open. Geoff climbed in quickly and handed the bags back to Ryan.

  “Alright Michael, we’re out.”

  “Okay, I’m blowing. Cover your ears kids.”

  The shock wave from the explosion shook the car and nearly deafened Ryan even though his ears were covered. He looked out the window in time to see the red plume of fire dart to the sky, and the immediate wave of smoke.  

  Jack pulled out into the street and quickly they were back under cover. There was several cars, backed up by everything happening at the bank, so they blended in.

  “Ray, Michael status?” Geoff said into his earpiece.

  “We’re heading to the getaway car. We blew up 3 cop cars and downed 5 maybe 6 cops. The entire building is shit now. Half the bank is gone, so I don’t think they’ll get an accurate reading of how much we got. The people in the street fled after Ryan left and the cops showed up so no civ casualties.”

  “Perfect. Gav, what about you?”

  “I’m great. Just waiting in the car. Hey Michael.” Ryan heard the sound of the door opening and slamming shut.

  “We’re in the car. Alright we’re out in traffic.”

  “Okay, meet up at base,” Geoff said. He smiled. “I think this has been our most successful heist so far guys! Good job everyone!”

  He grinned and turned around in his seat. “How much do you think you got, Ryan?”

  “100,000 maybe. Not much.”

  “Yeah, most of the money was back there in the safes. We’ve got 4 million at least in those bags. We scored, guys.” Geoff smiled wide and took off his earpiece as Gavin closed the line. Jack smiled too, visible relaxing as they got further and further away from the crime scene.

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Post heist boozing. Needless to say, there is alcohol in this chapter.

  They divvied up the cash and sent it to their launderers, then went out for drinks. Everyone was in high spirits, laughing and joking. Ray and Ryan both didn’t drink so they were able to watch while everyone else got shitfaced.

  “So, how was your first heist with the crew?” Ray asked.

  “It was great,” Ryan said. “It was kind of even fun.”

  “So you’re not rethinking your decision anymore?”

  “Nope. I’m a permanent fixture, whether you guys like it or not.” He smiled at Ray.

  “I don’t think anyone is complaining.” He gave Ryan a knowing look and suddenly he remembered the marks on Gavin’s neck.

  Ryan wasn’t embarrassed though, he wasn’t the type. He grinned at Ray and shrugged, then took another sip of his diet Coke.

  Ray smiled and shook his head before finishing his Coke. On the other end of the bar where the guys were drinking there was a sudden burst of excited shouts. Ryan and Ray both looked in time to watch Gavin throw his hands up in victory. He had several darts in one hand and the dartboard had a couple darts around the stage and dart right in the bullseye. There was another group of 3 people beside them looking a little frustrated. One of the guys handed Gavin a stack of money before walking away.

  “Look like Gavin’s already gambling. Usually this doesn’t start until later in the night,” Ray said.

  Ryan watched him for a moment. Gavin counted the money quickly before shoving it in his back pocket.  Geoff patted him on the back before handing him a shotglass full of whiskey.

  “Do you know how to play pool?” Ray asked.

  “Yeah. You want to see if we can get some money?”

  “S’what I was thinking.”

  It was a saturday night, the day of payday for a lot of people, so there was a lot of money to be lost that night. Ray was also a great hustler, and with Ryan on his side they got nearly 50 bucks in an hour.

  Ryan was in the middle of his second game when Gavin sauntered up beside him.

  “Hey Rye. You brought your own car, right?” he asked.

  “Yeah, why?”

  “Want to get out of here?”

  Ryan raised an eyebrow and looked at him. “I’m not talking advantage of you while you’re drunk, Gav.”

  Gavin huffed but didn’t say anything else. He watched Ryan play silently for a moment before looking up at the guy Ryan was playing against.

  “Move over a tad, you’ll get all 3 of those ones there in the holes,” Gavin said quietly so the other guy couldn’t hear. Gavin nudged Ryan over with his elbow gently, then examined the table. As promised, the 3 remaining balls fell in their places.

  The guy threw his $20 onto the table and walked away, pissed.

  Ryan offered Gavin some of the money but Gavin refused. “C’mon, you helped me win.”

  Gavin shook his head. “I don’t want your money. You know what I want.”

  Ryan rolled his eyes. “No Gav. Sober up first.”

  “Can we at least snog a little?” Gavin asked, grinning. He wrapped his arms around Ryan’s neck and pushed himself against Ryan. Ryan sighed before leaning down to kiss Gavin back. Gavin’s tongue tasted like whiskey and the kiss was sloppy but Ryan still enjoyed it. He tugged Gavin back a little, into the darker corner of the bar where no one could see them.

  Now Gavin’s hands were sliding up the front of his shirt, resting on his hips and Ryan was tugging his head back by the hair to lay messy kisses along Gavin’s neck, tracing the bruises with his tongue. Gavin gasped, blunt nails digging into the skin of Ryan’s waist. He ground himself against Ryan’s thigh.

  Ryan had to pull away. His pants felt too tight and he didn’t want to do this to Gavin while he was drunk.

  Gavin slumped against his chest. “You’re a pain,” Gavin whined.

  Ryan chuckled at that. “I’m the pain?”

  Gavin buried his face in Ryan’s chest and sighed. “Yes. A right pain in my ass. He smirked, then closed his eyes.

  “Don’t fall asleep,” Ryan said, peeling Gavin off of him.

  “Mm not.” Ryan led him over to the bar by his hand.

  “C’mon, Gav. Sit here, I’ll go find Geoff.”

  Gavin made some unintelligible noise as Ryan left.

  “Hey Rye! What’s going on?” Geoff said when Ryan approached. He was still at the dart boards, talking with Geoff over his beer.

  “Nothing. It’s getting pretty late, do you want to head home.”

  Geoff squinted at his watch for a moment before shrugging. “Sure. I’ve got better booze at home anyways.” He said it loud enough for the bartender to hear, but if he did he didn’t react. “Jack, Ryan wants to head home. You ready to go back?”

  “I heard him. Alright. Where’s Ray and Gav?”

  “Gav is over there and Ray’s playing pool. Can you make it to the car without help.”

  Geoff laughed. “I’m drunk more often than I’m sober, Ryan. I could run a marathon right now.”

  “That doesn’t sound healthy,” Ryan said as Geoff walked away. Jack shrugged and followed.

~

  Gavin slept in his own bed that night, but he didn’t want to. He’d been pretty hammered when they got home so Ryan had to lead him to his bed. Ryan still wasn’t sure the boundaries of their relationship so he went the safe route and took Gavin to his own bed.

  When he’d woke up it was 9am and suddenly he was hunched over the toilet vomiting, so he supposed he was thankful for the fact he wasn’t with Ryan.

  He was exhausted, and the exertion it took to vomit had worn him out even more. He couldn’t sleep though, so he just took a cold shower.

  He wandered to the kitchen afterwards. The first thing he heard was Geoff slamming the door, and it felt like a punch straight to the brain. He cringed and groaned.

  “Aww Gavvy. Never could hold your alcohol. You want some aspirin?”

  “Please?” Gavin said. He leaned down and rested his head on the cool marble counter and sighed. He didn’t use to like taking pills, but this job didn’t permit waiting it out.

  He swallowed the pills down with a little effort. “Why are you awake?” Gavin asked.

  “I have a city to run. I can’t sleep until noon like you guys,” Geoff said.

  “You’re actually going to work today?” Gavin said, and Geoff shot him a glare.

  “Shut the fuck up. And yes, I have a meeting today with another boss.”

  “When?”

  “In about,” he checked his watch “30 minutes. I need to get ready now. Just drink a lot of water and your hangover should go away, alright?”

  Gavin nodded, and Geoff ruffled his hair before disappearing into the hall.

  He stretched out on the couch and tried to watch tv on mute. Someone walked in the room via front door and Gavin sat up to see who it was.

  “Hey Rye,” Gavin said.

  Ryan jumped a little, startled. “Hey Gav, you’re up early. Everything okay?”

  “Just a little hungover. What are you doing up?”

  “I always wake up this early. I just got back from a jog.”

  “You jog?”

  Ryan frowned. “Yeah Gav. I’m a world famous mercenary, I can’t just sit around all day and expect to get my job done.”

  Gavin scowled. “You don’t have to be rude about it.” Ryan leaned over and kissed him.

  “I’m sorry. How’re you feeling.” Gavin watched him move to the kitchen.

  “Better. Geoff gave me aspirin and it’s starting to set in.”

  “That’s good. You got pretty wasted last night.”

  “I recall.” He laid back down and sighed. “I didn’t sleep much last night.”

  “Yeah, we got back pretty late. It’s only 9:30, why don’t you try going back to sleep.”

  “I can’t.”

  “I don’t know how to help you then,” Ryan said, shrugging. Gavin sat up to watch him.

  “Are you busy?” he asked a little shyly.

  “No, why?”

  Well, do you want to come to bed with me? We can just lay down, not do anything.” Gavin shrugged sheepishly. Ryan smiled softly. He’d had plans that day but laying in bed with Gavin sounded better than everything on his list.

  “Sure. You want to come to my room? Yours is really messy and it makes me claustrophobic. I need to change my clothes anyways.”

  Gavin grinned and nodded.

~

  Ryan’s bedroom was bigger than his, which made Gavin a little mad since he’d been in the crew longer than Ryan had. The bed was a thousand times more comfortable too, and with Ryan pressed to his back he actually did fall back asleep.

  He woke up several hours later around 2:30. He felt better, a lot better. The room was quiet and still, and he couldn’t hear any outside sounds. Only Ryan’s slow breathes and the standing air conditioners quiet hum.

  He smiled to himself. He felt like the protagonist of one of those lame romance movies, waking up entangled with their love, a single beam of sunlight on their bed.

  He turned in Ryan’s arm carefully, trying not to wake him. Ryan was a light sleeper though. His eyes opened slowly and he turned onto his back and stretched.

  “Morning Gav,” he muttered, looking over at him.

  “It’s 2:30 pm,” Gavin said.

  “This is the latest I’ve ever slept,” he said. “I feel like crap.”

  “It was a nap. A five hour nap.”

  Ryan smiled. He pulled Gavin close to him. He kissed him slowly, gently. When he pulled away Gavin felt breathless.

  “C’mon, let’s get up. We can’t lay in bed all day.”

  “Who says,” Gavin said. He put his hands behind his head and stretched out, groaning.

  “I says. Get up. I’m hungry anyways.”

  Gavin tried to straighten himself out in the mirror. His hair was messy and his clothes were wrinkled. Not to mention the low cut of his shirt collar hid not a single mark on his neck.

  “You’re an ass,” Gavin said, tracing the marks. He loved them though. He liked that everyone knew Ryan did those. He liked that he belonged to Ryan. It sent some weird sense of pleasure through him knowing he was owned.

  Ryan didn’t respond, only smirked.

  Ryan headed for the kitchen and Gavin opted for the couch. Ryan was laying there with his 3ds, not paying attention to the tv so Gavin stole the remote and turned on

  Jack came into the kitchen while Ryan was making lunch.

  “Hello, Ryan. Where’ve you been all morning?” she asked.

  “Slept in.” He shrugged. “A lot happened yesterday.”

  “You want help?” she asked.

  “Nah, I think I’ve got it. Thanks though.”

  Jack pulled herself up onto the counter and watched Ryan. “What’re you going to do with the money?” she asked after a moments silence.

  “I don’t know. I mean, I don’t have to pay rent for a house or anything, and I already have a nice car. There’s really not much I want. I’m not materialistic at all. What are you doing with it?”

  “I don’t know either. I was looking for ideas.”

  “I’ll probably just keep it in the bank. Save up for awhile. Maybe I’ll invest it in something.”

  “That’s smart.”

~

  “Do you want to go to bed?” Gavin asked. It was half past 11. Geoff and Jack had gone to bed hours ago, and Michael and Ray had left to see a movie. Ryan was getting tired too; the tv show they were watching was boring and the apartment was dead quiet.

  “Sure. Eh.. what’s the sleeping arrangement?” Ryan asked a little awkwardly.

  “Well, I rather liked your bed,” Gavin said. “If you’ll have me..”

  “Of course.” Ryan smiled at him, and Gavin pulled him in for a kiss.

  Gavin had to stop by his room for his bed clothes before retiring to Ryan’s room. Ryan was already in bed when he walked in. His small tv was on and he had his hands behind his head watching the news. He was only in his boxers and a loose-ish white shirt, casual, but Gavin couldn’t help but feel a flutter in his chest at the sight.

  He climbed in beside him and got comfortable. “Anything exciting happen?” Gavin said, watching the news.

  “We were on,” he said. “They’re talking about how we’re ruining the city.”

  Gavin smiled and leaned on his shoulder. “Geoff always records the news after our heists. He likes seeing himself on the tv.”

  Ryan smiled fondly. “Me too, I’ll admit.”

  “I think everyone does a little bit,” Gavin said. He moved to kiss Ryan. “C’mon, I’m spent.”

  “Night Gavin,” Ryan said, turning the tv off.

  “Night Rye.” He turned the lamp off and laid back. Ryan slid his arm over Gavin’s waist and pulled him close. Gavin scooted back until they were properly spooning.

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Self indulgent fluff. Also, plot!

  Gavin’s phone ringing was what woke him up.

  It scared him, at first. It took him a few moments of patting the nightstand to finally locate it. When he did finally answer it he was still half asleep.

  “Hello?”

  “Gavin? Where are you?”

  “What? Who is this?” He stretched and yawned. He noticed Ryan wasn’t next to him but the spot he was in was still a bit warm so Gavin scooted over. The window by the bed was cracked open and the morning chill was coming in.

  “Geoff. I went to your room to tell you something and you weren’t there. Where are you?”

  Suddenly Gavin was awake. The digital clock on the bedside read 9:30. A thousand thoughts went through his mind, the most prominent being what was so important that Geoff had tried to wake Gavin at 9:30. The day after a big heist no less. “I spent the night with Ryan,” he said carefully. “What’s happened?”

  “You slept with Ryan?” Geoff sounded surprised.

  “No! Well, yes, kinda. We didn’t have sex but we shared a bed,” Gavin said. “Geoff, what’s happened?”

  He could almost hear Geoff shaking his head. “Just go to the conference room there’s an emergency meeting and I’ll explain everything.”

  “Emergency? What happened?” Gavin climbed out of bed and started toward his room to dress.

  “Don’t worry, it’s not that bad. Just get over here fast. See you.”

  Geoff ended the call and Gavin briefly considered changing out of his pajamas before jogging down the hall to the conference room.

~

  “Okay, so heres the game plan,” Geoff said. He unfurled a map of Los Santos on the table.

  “How many maps of the city do you have?” Ray asked. Geoff looked over at him and frowned.

  “Ray, shut the hell up. This is important.”

  “Not really. It’s just some guys. I could probably deal with this alone, honestly. No need to wake me up at 9am for it.”

  “It’s not just five guys its-”

  “Yeah it is.”

  “-a whole gang, and these guys are the forerunners. Besides that, we’re making a show of it as a warning for the rest of the gang. A warning that we won’t put up with a bunch of assholes on our terf.”

  Jack spoke up. “There’s always going to be some asshole who thinks they can take us, Geoff. We shouldn’t use all our resources on one group of people. I mean, this happens after every heist.”

  “I know, and I’m trying to stop-” Geoff ran his hand through his hair. “Alright, how about this. We all go, off em all, done.”

  “Why do we all need to go?” Ray asked.

  “I’m not sending 3 of my men against 5 of theirs. I don’t even know how good they are, I’ve never heard about them before.”

  “We should send a runner out for info before we go, then,” Ryan said.

  “I did, he said they're from out of town and that’s all he could get. They haven’t done much more than hit a liquor store, which isn’t a good way to judge their skill. We can take ‘em, I’m sure, I just don’t want to take too much of a risk.”

  “Which just means we can take ‘em out easy, right? A bunch of lazy assholes,” Michael said. “Let’s go knock some sense into ‘em tomorrow.”

  “No, on Friday. That gives us all day tomorrow to prepare. Sound good?” Geoff sat up and looked over everyone.

  “Sure,” Ray said. Everyone else shrugged.

  “Good enthusiasm team,” Geoff said before turning and leaving. “We’re going to leave around morning. Be prepared to wait awhile, my runner said their hours were scattered.”

~

  Gavin spent the day in his room working on his computer. Everyone was scattered that day; gang fights were different than heists. They were more tasking and took more physical preparation. Ryan, Jack, and Michael were at the gym training, Ray had gone to the shooting gallery, and Geoff was doing inventory on their weapon stash.

  He was tired of getting stuck with all the tech work. It was boring, really. Hacking into the city hall of records looking for a map of the barn the gang was using as their hideout wasn’t as thrilling as training in the gym with his friends. He knew it was important work though. Things weren’t like how they were in Bonnie and Clyde’s day. You couldn’t just shoot up a bank and get out alive. Now there was panic buttons and gps’s in phones and computers. Gavin was able to give the crew the most important thing during a job--time.

  He wasn’t sure much tech was needed this time though. It was a simple point-n-shoot. The most they needed was earpieces and the map from him. He was hoping this meant he’d be able to actually do something this time.

  After an hour or so his legs were starting to cramp so he decided to go for a break. He walked down the hall to the kitchen slowly. No one was here except for him. He hadn’t lived alone in several years, he’d gotten use to having someone around. This silence was deafening, he hated it.

  His phone rang while he was in the middle of making his sandwich.

  “Hello,” he said.

  “Hey Gav,” Ryan replied. Gavin smiled briefly before putting his phone on speaker to continue his sandwich.

  “Hey Rye. What’s up?”

  “Just called to check in. Everything good there?”

  “I’m not 12, you don’t have to call and make sure I’m okay, Rye.”

  “12 year old aren’t nationally famous mercenaries hunted by both the police and other mercs.”

  “Touche.”

  Ryan chuckled. “We’re going to be heading home soon.”

  “Good. It’s too bloody quiet here. I feel like I’ve gone mental.”

  “Well we’ll be back within the hour.”

  “Okay.”

~  
  Ryan was exhausted. He’d spent the better part of his day at the gym training, and he’d gotten surprisingly out of shape in his month off. Either that or Michael was a better fighter than he looked. Either way he had bruises in more places than not and sweat pouring off him.

  The cold shower water felt amazing after being in the 100+ gym all day. He hobbled to his room and collapsed on the bed after his shower. He was only down a minute or so before he decided he wanted to find Gavin.

  He wasn’t in the living room so Ryan surmised he must be in his room. He was right.

  It took a moment for Gavin to answer his door. His hair was messy and he looked frustrated. When he saw Ryan his gaze softened a little.

  “Hey Rye,” he said, then moved aside so Ryan could come in.

  “Hey Gav. You alright?”

  Gavin had cleaned his room up a bit since last time he was in here, Ryan noticed. There was now 3 bins with labels drawn in sharpie against one wall, and several wires had been filed into those. There was still a mess on his floor, but it was dwindling. Ryan smiled at it but didn’t say anything.

  “Yeah, I’m top. Just a little frustrated. The city site made itself ‘hacker proof.’ Now I have to take the long way around and get in with a password, but all the people I’m trying to get passwords from use random passwords, not consistent ones.”

  “Why don’t you take a break. You have a whole nother day to get the map.”

  “The sooner I can get it the better,” Gavin said. He sighed. “But I could go for a break.” He sat up and sat on the bed next to Ryan. “Is Geoff back from storage yet?”

  “I think so. I just got out of the shower so I don’t know for sure.”

  Gavin leaned against Ryan’s shoulder. “Are you nervous?”

  “About what?” Ryan asked, weaving his arm around Gavin’s waist.

  “The fight.”

  “No, not really. I’ve done stuff like this before, and this team works well together.”

  “Weird, innit. Everyone’s so different here but we’re unstoppable together. Like you. Even though you came in late you still fit here perfectly.”

  “Do I?”

  “Yeah. You get on well with everyone here. Geoff was a little worried when you joined the team because we’re a close group, you know. That’s why we’re all so successful. We’re family. But you fit in good. There was barely even an awkward adjustment period.”

  Ryan chuckled. “I’m not the Vagabond all the time. I have a degree in theatre.”

  “Theatre! You nerd,” Gavin laughed.

  Ryan squeezed him gently. “Yeah! I wanted to go to broadway and be famous.”

  “Well, you’re famous at least.”

  Ryan shrugged. “True. Very true.”

  “Are you a good actor?”

  “I guess. I mean, this job takes a certain level of acting skill, doesn’t it. I’m not really a psychotic murderer but lots of people think I am.”

  “Yeah,” Gavin agreed. “I s’pose some people actually enjoy though. Murder and whatnot.”

  “Those people don’t make it long out there. They’re often reckless with how they work.”

  “Yeah, I suppose you’re right.” There was a period of silence, but neither felt inclined to say anything. It was peaceful, really.

  Gavin twisted in his arms and kissed him gently. “I missed you, Rye,” Gavin muttered before he pressed his palms to Ryan’s chest and guided him to a laying position on the bed. Ryan’s hands found Gavin’s hips easily. He guided him down to grind against Ryan. Gavin gasped and his hands flew out to tangle in Ryan’s hair.

  “Ryan, wait,” Gavin muttered holding his head still.

  “What’s wrong?” Ryan asked, pausing.

  “Nothing, nothing. I just… You don’t have to respond just yet but I just wanted to say that I- Well I love you.” He continued quickly, “You don’t have to say it and I’m sorry if it’s too soon but that’s how I feel and I don’t like being dishonest with my emotions and I really don’t expect you to say it right now. But that’s how I feel.”

  Ryan stared at him wide eyed for a second. He was surprised, and couldn’t find the words. “Gav,” he muttered before leaning in to kiss Gavin. He didn’t say it back, he wanted to wait. Make it special.

  Gavin’s hands made their way down between their bodies and undid Ryan’s belt. “I love you Rye,” he repeated quietly against Ryan’s lips, more assured.

 


	8. Chapter 8

  On the morning of the attack Geoff woke everyone by pounding on their doors and yelling “Wake up assholes” in the hall. Besides that it was a calm morning. Gavin and Ryan had spent the night in Ryan’s room. They were tangled around the thick blanket, wrapped around each other against the cold air. The window was still cracked, and the chill was coming in. The sounds of the city were distant at this height, but Gavin could still hear it. It use to annoy him but after living here for so long it was more reassuring than not.

  “Gav wake up,” Ryan muttered. It was too early, even for him. The sun was barely coming out and he could still see stars speckled over the sky. They’d been up late that night, despite them both knowing they’d be getting up early. It’d seemed like a good idea when he was hilt deep inside Gavin.

  “Mmm,” Gavin groaned, burying his face in the pillow.

  He buried his face in Gavin’s neck and let his eyes close again, but another shout from Geoff in the hall startles him back to consciousness.

  “C’mon you lazy fucks we have to go kill people today.”

  “I’m going to wring his neck,” Gavin muttered. Ryan chuckled before forcing himself to stand up. Gavin watched him for a moment. He was only in his boxers, low on his hips. He had a dark mark on his shoulder and lower neck, contrasting beautifully against his pale skin. He grinned at the memory of that night.

  “Stop staring at me and get dressed,” Ryan said. Gavin scowled at him silently.

  “I don’t want to get up,” he groaned. “What time is it even?”

  “5am.”

  “We’ve only slept 2 hours,” he complained. He pulled the blanket up over his face and groaned.

  “C’mon, you can take a nap when we’re done,” Ryan said.

~

  They were quiet around the dining table. Besides Geoff, everyone was half asleep, and the room was dead silent save for the news on the tv quietly in the living room.

  Suddenly, Geoff slammed his hands on the table. Everyone jumped up, startled. No less than two guns were pulled and trained on an unphased Geoff.

  “Liven up, crew! We can’t go to the barn like a bunch of zombies!”

  “Geoff it’s 6am please,” Ray muttered.

  “We leave for the barn in two hours. We need to get a headstart on them, guys,” Geoff said. “I’m brewing coffee, the fridge is literally jam packed with Red Bull. Drink up, guys. There's a high chance we’ll be in the back of a van all day.”

  The coffee was good. It gave Ryan enough pep to take his morning jog and shower before he crashed on the couch. He was the first one ready; since, besides Geoff, he was the earliest up anyways.

  He brought Jack a cup of coffee in the garage and helped her set up the stakeout van.  There was a callboard for operating their earpieces, a police scanner, and a radio tuned to pick up audio from the listening device a runner had planted in the barn but not much else. Her and Geoff were going to be sat in the front with the scanner and the radio while the remaining four would be in the back.

  “You might want to pack a book or something,” Jack said. “These are usually pretty boring.”

  When they were done they went back upstairs. Geoff was on the couch watching tv and when Jack came in he smiled brightly and greeted her. She sat beside him and they started talking to each other.

  Ryan found Gavin in his room messing with his computer. His bed was still messy from the day before last, one of Ryan’s shirts on the floor. He smiled fondly before turning to the man in the chair.

  “Hey Gav,” he greeted. He leaned on the back of his chair to see the computer screen. “What’re you doing.”

  “Hey Rye. Finishing up some stuff. Apparently the guys we’re off-ing today have a Facebook. I’m just scrolling through them to see if I can find anything good.”

  Ryan furrowed his brows before standing up. “We leave in 30 minutes.”

  Gavin nodded. “Alright. I should be ready by then. How is everyone else?”

  “Jack and Geoff are ready to go. I don’t know about Michael and Ray. I’ll probably go see if I can help them any.”

  “Okay.” He pulled Ryan down into a kiss. “I love you.”

  Ryan responded with a kiss. Gavin didn’t expect him to say it back so he wasn’t disappointed when he didn’t.

~

  Ray was putting his pink sniper back together when Ryan knocked on the door.

  Ray’s room was fairly simple, surprisingly. He had one window between his bed and desk. The curtains were pulled so the light coming in through the stained fabric was a calm brown hue. His walls were barren and his desk was neat and organized. He had a shelf for his handheld games and systems. There was several rows of games for several systems. The last 3 shelves held the consoles themselves. There was a space missing where his 3ds would be was it not sitting on the desk charging.

  “Hey Ray. Are you almost ready?”

  “Just about.”

  “Is there anything I can do?”

  “Could you see if my 3ds is charged? Just turn in on, unplug it, and see how many bars there are.”

  Ryan frowned at him before obeying. “4.”

  “Awesome. Can you put it in my backpack for me?”

  Ryan listened.

  “Thanks Rye,” Ray said. He snapped his scope back into place and peered through it.

  “Happy to help,” Ryan said. “Do you need anything else?”

  “Nah, thanks man.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Michael’s room was directly across from Ray’s so he went there next.

  “What?” came a voice from inside.

  “It’s Ryan.”

  After a moment the door opened and Michael repeated “What?”

  “I was wondering if you needed any help with anything?” Ryan said.

  Michael thought a moment before replying. “Sure. Can you get me a Red Bull?”

  Ryan frowned a moment before agreeing and heading back towards the kitchen.

  Geoff and Jack were in the kitchen when he walked in.

  “Hey Ryan,” they said politely.

  “Hey,” he responded before opening the fridge.

  “That for Gav?” Geoff asked.

  “No, Michael.”

  “Michael? Are you banging him too or are you just the household waiter?” Geoff said.

  “Ha ha. I’m just a nice friend,” Ryan said.

  Geoff shrugged, then smiled. “You gonna get me one too?”

  Ryan raised an eyebrow. “Should I?”

  “No,” Jack said.

  Ryan looked back to Geoff and shrugged before turning and walking away.

  Michael thanked him curtly before inviting him in and having him help him clean guns. Michael’s room was dimly lit and painted a cream color. There was parts whiter than the rest, places where old holes had been punched in. He had a lamp by his bed and nothing else on the nightstand. He also had a bookshelf backed against the wall, with quite a few books organized neatly. They were mostly science fiction novels. Ryan recognized some titles.

  The guns in question were organized in two rows on the floor. He also had a c4 on the bed and a belt of grenades next to his backpack.

  “The top row is good to go,” he said before turning back to the c4 and messing with the wiring.

  It didn’t take long; he was fast when it came to firearm care. In less than 5 minutes every gun was clean.

  “Thanks Ryan,” Michael said. Could you take these 3 to Ray?”

  “Sure.”

  Ray looked like he was done when Ryan knocked.

  “Thanks Ryan,” he said. He tucked one into his holster but tucked the other too into sidepockets on his sniper case.

  “You’re welcome. I think we’re about to head out if you’re ready.”

  He checked the game card slot before shoving his 3ds into his hoodie pocket. “Yep. Is Michael ready?”

  Ryan shrugged. “Not sure. He was messing with a c4 when I was in there.”

  “Alright. I’ll go get him.”

  Ryan wandered to the living room but stopped at Gavin’s room. He knocked twice before letting himself in.

  “Hey Rye,” Gavin said without looking up from the monitor.

  “Hey. What’s up?”

  “I hacked into this guys Facebook and went through his messaged and found out he’d been sexting this lady over Messenger. I’m not sure I’ll be able to look him in the eye after what I saw.”

  Ryan chuckled and shook his head. “It’s time to leave. Are you ready?”

  “Wow, 30 minutes already?” Gavin checked the clock in the corner of his screen.

  “I guess time flies when you’re staring at a stranger's junk.”

  Gavin swatted his shoulder. “Shut up Rye I wasn’t staring at it for 30 minutes. Like 5 top.”

  Ryan pulled him in for a kiss.

  “C’mon,” Gavin said as he pulled away. He grabbed Ryan’s hand and tugged him to the door.

 


	9. Chapter 9

  Gavin fell asleep in the van, leaning against Ryan’s shoulder with their hands intertwined between them. Ryan had facepaint on, a simple black smear around his eyes. The mask was beside him, occupying his other hand. He didn’t like to put it on if he didn’t have to. There was a time once, when he was still working alone, when he use to wear it constantly, from the time he woke to the time he fell asleep. When he joined the crew that stopped, though. He wasn’t sure why, but he could guess.

  Ray was hunched by the door, face lit up by his 3ds. Every once in awhile he let out a huff of annoyance, or muttered “Get fucked” under his breathe at some npc. Geoff and Jack were talking quietly in the front about something while listening to the feed coming from the hidden mics and cameras in the barn. Michael was doing something on his phone across from Ray. They both had headphones in, despite Geoff’s demand to leave them off.  

  “Rye,” Gavin muttered. Ryan looked over at him.

  “Yeah?”

  “What time is it?”

  Ryan checked his phone. “9:30.”

  Gavin groaned before moving deeper into his seat. “Wake me up when they arrive.”

  An hour passed. Then another.

  Michael groaned suddenly before tossing his phone onto the seat.  “Fucking piece of shit.”

  Ray glanced up at the sound of Michael’s voice.

  Another hour, and Ray’s 3ds died. He groaned and tucked into his backpack.

  Another hour and Gavin woke up. Him, Ray, and Michael chatted quietly for awhile but stopped when Geoff told them they were getting too loud.

  Finally, at 5:00pm, Geoff said they arrived. They waited 30 minutes for the guys to get comfortable, then geared up and jumped out.

  “Remember, leave one guy for interrogation,” Geoff said before they split up and surrounded the area.

  Ray was able to climb up through the second floor window and hide in the hayloft to examine the men’s positions below him. Meanwhile, Michael and Gavin squatted in the thick weeds to the left and right of the barn, beneath the windows. Jack, Ryan, and Geoff waited at the front for Ray’s signal.

  “There’s 3 in the center of the barn. You can easily take them out when you come in. The remaining two are off to the sides behind some hay stacks. I can take one when you guys come in, and we can grab the other guy,” Ray said quietly.

  “Alright crew, you hear that?”

  2 affirmatives came through.

  “On 3. 1, 2, 3. Go!”

  The barn doors opened wide and the gunfire began. Ryan bagged the guy on the far left, and Jack and Geoff got the other two. The 3 in the main fell fast, leaving only the two others.

  “Remember, right stays alive. No one shoot the redhead!” Geoff said. “

     Ryan stalked the redhead, closing in silently on his position. A shot in the leg  with a low caliber piece would be enough to incapacitate but leave him otherwise conscious.

The other man, the blonde, had good cover that he ran to as soon as the doors opened so Ray couldn’t get anything but a rough estimate of his position behind the hay. He shot at where he thought the man was but missed. The man returned fire.

  “Geoff, see if you can get him. He’s firing at me.”

  Geoff was light on his feet as he darted around the bale of hay. With one shot the guy was down, howling in pain. The redhead got spooked and darted suddenly. Ryan was compromised. Upon seeing him the redhead, quick on his gun, fired five shots. Ryan took cover, but in doing so lost his shot.

  “Guys, the target!” Ryan yelled.

  Michael was fastest, by the door. He fired upon him as he exited the barn, and hit him right in the chest. He fell in the dust heavily, and soon there was a pool of dirty blood around him.

  “Shit, I think he’s dead,” Michael said over the ruckus. “Well, we still have the loud asshole.”

  “Alright, change of plans,” Geoff said. “Tie this asshole up. And for fucks sake, someone shut him up.”

~

  Gavin couldn’t stomach torture and left as soon as it started. He especially couldn’t stomach that it would be Ryan doing it. He’d come to terms with the fact that Ryan was the Vagabond, a sadistic murderer, but seeing him in action made everything all too real and he couldn’t handle that.

  No one questioned his absence though, he and Ray were tasked with sifting through the cell phones found on the bodies. They were disposables, so there wasn’t much really. What was on there was good though. Gavin found coordinates to other hideouts, and some names (code names, but it was something).

  “You alright. You look a little pale,” Ray asked. Gavin shrugged.

  “I don’t like torture.”

  “No one likes torture Gav. But it’s necessary.”

  Gavin didn’t respond, just looked down at the phone in his hand. It was a flip phone, the ones they sold at Wal-Mart for $10.

  “These things don’t run apps, do they,” he asked.

  Ray scoffed. “No.”

  “Then they have other phones somewhere. Smartphones.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I got into one of the guy’s Facebook and saw some messages he was sending through the Messenger app. Do you think there’d be anything on those phones. It wouldn’t be too hard to find their houses.”

  “It might be worth it to check,” Ray said.

  Jack and Michael exited the barn first. They were grinning and laughing to each other. When they reached the car Ray slid off the hood.

  “So?”

  “He talked as soon as Ryan pulled out the knife.”

  Gavin cringed, but no one noticed.

  “Geoff and Ryan are back in the barn cleaning it out. The hay was covering a bunch of coke. Geoff is calling over backup to come pick it up and distribute it to dealers. There’s at least 20 pounds in there.”

  “The gang they’re working for must be operating in drugs then. It’ll be easier to find them knowing that. They’ll come looking for their coke, so we can use it to lure them in,” Ray said. “20 pounds is a huge loss, they’ll want it back.” After a pause. “Oh, Gav, tell them about the phones.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I wrote this chapter I had to stop half way through to kill a spider in my room. Not relevant to the chapter, just a little behind the scenes insider stuff.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stuff idk

  Gavin slept in his own bed that night. Ryan didn’t question it. He knew why.

  The next day they were back to normal though, or something akin to it. One of Gavin’s special skills was forgetting things he didn’t want to remember. It was how he coped.

  He was able to distract himself with his work.

  It really wasn’t hard to track them down. The were newer to the whole gang thing and they still had their legitimate names on their houses records.

  The lads were the ones who went to their houses and searched their stuff. Gavin collected their electronics while Michael and Ray searched through anything else that might be useful. By the end of the day they had 4 laptops, 3 smartphones, one desktop, and a diary that Michael volunteered to read. That night they set everything up in the living room and everyone worked on finding any info.

  Michael did a dramatic reading of the man’s journal while everyone worked on getting into the computers. Gavin had to help some of the group get past the passwords but after that it was a piece of cake.

  “‘January 2014, Dear diary,’” Michael said. “‘Today I went to the park and fed the birds. Some guy mugged me and stole my credit card. I had to cancel it. That sucked. It’s the third time I’ve been mugged this week. My friend said I should move out of Los Santos but moving is a lot of work. I don’t have any money anyways, it’s just annoying to have to keep replacing my wallet and credit card.’ What an asshole.”

  “This guys been sending dick pics to some chick on Facebook,” Geoff said disgustedly.

  Ryan and Gavin met eyes across the table and Gavin snorted. Ryan smiled fondly at Gavin and Gavin smiled back, feeling left out of some joke they were both in on without him. 

  They wrote down every little piece of information they could get. They scoured through every email, every Facebook, Twitter, everything. They wrote down phone numbers, too, and assigned Ryan and Ray to researching the numbers.

  They stayed up until 2am sifting through all the files. Gavin followed Ryan to bed and curled into him before falling asleep.

~

  “Rye,” Gavin said. “Wake up, we have work to do.” Gavin was standing in front of the closet, now stocked with a couple changes of his own clothes.

  “Mm Gav,” Ryan groaned before turning away from him. “Come back to bed.”

  Gavin thought about it. Ryan was usually very cuddly and sweet in the morning, and the bed did look to warm and inviting.

  “No, c’mon,” he said, refusing.

  When he did finally get up Ryan was slow to dress. He was never fully awake before his morning routine. Gavin was ready for the morning already though. This new development, that they found thanks to him, was actually kind of exciting to him.

  When Gavin entered the living room he saw Jack at the counter brewing coffee and Geoff sitting dutifully at his designated laptop.

  “Morning Gav. Where’s Ryan?” Jack asked.

  “Left for a jog. Is the coffee ready?”

  “Just about.” She yawned.

  He sat at his computer and booted it up. Jack brought him coffee when it was done and he threw himself back into his work.

  When Ryan got back he took a quick shower before taking his place behind the computer, armed with a mug of coffee.

  Soon Michael joined the ranks, reading through the diary silently unless he found something funny. Ray was last to join, only an hour behind Gavin.

  They took an hour long break for lunch and separated to do their own thing. Gavin and Ryan found their way to the balcony. It was midday, when the city was at its least impressive. The buildings in this area were tall and magnificent, but in direct sun you saw them for what they really were; concrete eyesores. At night when they were lit up and shining they could be seen as beautiful or breathtaking feats of the human brain, though.

  “You okay?” Ryan asked. He was leaning on the railing next to Gavin, looking over the edge at the long drop.

  “Yeah,’ Gavin said, looking up at Ryan. “Why?”

  “After the fight, you seemed like you were mad at me. I mean, sorry to reopen old wounds but I want to know what I did wrong so I don’t do it again, you know..” He trailed off.

  “Oh,” Gavin said. “It’s nothing, don’t worry about it, Rye.”

  “Is it because of the interrogation thing?”

  Gavin stayed silent, struggling to keep the images from his mind.

  “Yeah. I said don’t worry about it, okay. I’ll be fine.”

  Ryan didn’t respond, so Gavin took the opportunity to change the subject. “Have you gotten anything good from the numbers?”

  “I found out he has a sex hotline addiction. Not much besides that.”

  Gavin leaned against Ryan’s shoulder and sighed. “This is a lot of work, I hope we get something useful out of it.”

  “Me too. I’m going to go cross-eyed from staring at the computer all day.”

  “That’s just a myth, you nob.”

  “No! It’s true. I knew a guy who knew a guy who went cross-eyed from staring at the computer.”

  “You’re so full of it! I would be super cross-eyed if that was true.”

  Ryan smiled and pulled Gavin in for a kiss. Gavin let him, sliding his arms around Ryan’s neck and pulling him closer. It only took a gently bite on the lip for Gavin to move to deepen it. His fingers carded through Ryan's hair, tugging lightly, and Ryan took the hint and pulled Gavin's hips against his. 

  When they pulled away for air Gavin said “Look Rye,” Gavin said,“All of Los Santos is watching us snog,” Gavin said. Ryan started laughing, burying his face in Gavin’s neck.

  “You really know how to ruin the mood.”

  “I think it’s romantic.”

  Ryan chuckled and pulled Gavin closer too him. “Romantic, eh?” He leaned down to kiss Gavin again, pulling him closer to him. “I didn’t know you were into that.”

  “Shut up,” Gavin said humor in his tone.

  Ryan grinned and pulled him back in for a long kiss.


	11. Chapter 11

  Gavin had sifted through every file, every folder, every website in the man’s history. He’d seen more weird porn than he could ever want to, read more pointless emails than he could ever want to read. By the time he was done he had a full 74 page college ruled notebook full  of potentially important stuff. He started on that, going through and researching the phones, tracing the numbers to names through the cell service provider’s database. None seemed that important. A lot of the numbers led to the man’s family or ex lovers.

  However, he reached one where the name of the number was unlisted, just under an uppercase X in the phone.

  “Hey guys, check on the phones and tell me if this number rings a bell.” He gave them a moment to pull up the contacts before reading off the number.

  He got affirmatives all around.

  “What’s the name?” Geoff asked.

  “The provider has it as ‘Unlisted.’ Under the contacts in his phone it’s just an X.”

  “My guy has it under ‘J,’” Ray said. Michael agreed.

  “J? Could that be the first initial of the name?”

  Geoff shrugged. “What else could it be.”

  “There’s a mention of someone named Joel in here?” Michael said. He flipped back a few pages before reading, “‘I met with some people today for lunch. Laurel brought her boyfriend, some tool named Joel. That pissed me off, but Joel is like 9 feet tall and he looked kind of rich in his fitted suit so I didn’t say anything. I just wish Laurel would realize how much better I would be for her than these douchebags.’”

  “Joel? He mentioned something about Joel looking rich, so he might be the boss. Or some part of the gang. If he disliked Joel, though, and didn’t say anything to him, why would Joel hire him?” Geoff said. “Does it say anything about him later on?”

  “It mentions him a couple more times later on. I’m not through it yet completely though.”

  “Read every mention of him as far as you are,” Geoff said.

  “I’ll see if I can find a Joel on Facebook,” Gavin said. He turned to the others. “Look in your guys’ friends lists too. Jack, you have this guy right? Try to find Laurel in his friend list.”

  “March 20, 2015, Dear Diary, for Laurel’s birthday we all went to the bar. She brought her douchebag boyfriend again, Joel. He didn’t have a sip of beer the whole time, which I thought was weird. I’m pretty decent at pool so I challenged him to a game, to try to impress Laurel. I wanted to only bet a hundred but the asshole somehow talked me up to $200, which was as much as I had in my pocket, to pay for drinks. He won and I lost $200! Because of him I didn’t get to drink at all last night. I hate him. When will Laurel leave him for me?’ What a prick. I’m going to get cancer from reading this.”

  “That sounds pretty sketchy. He somehow talked this guy up to $200? And beat him in a match. He must be pretty self assured, or at least pretty rich.”

  “Probably both,” Michael said, shrugging.

  “Hey, I found Laurel’s Facebook page,” Jack said. “It says she’s single, though. That entry is pretty old, they're probably done by now. I’m going to scroll through her posts to see if I could find any mention of Joel. That was dated March of this year?”

  “Yeah. The first entry was on the 10th of March.”

  “Okay.”

  “Any more Joel?”

  “Yes. Hang on. He flipped forward a couple pages then cleared his throat. “April 20. Laurel, Joel, Savannah and I all met at a bar. Laurel and Savannah ran off fairly quickly to do girl shit or something which left Joel and I at the bar. I’d had a few drinks at that point so I was feeling pretty ballsy. I asked him what he liked about Laurel and he just said he thought she was pretty and smart. Something cheesy like that. I asked him what he did for a living and he said he was an investor in gold. He talked for 5 solid minutes-I counted- about investing. I told him I didn’t care and he just got pissed, but Laurel came back so he dropped it.’” Michael looked up from the book.

  “Gold investor is pretty uncommon, right?” Geoff asked.

  “Yeah. Do they keep records on who invests in gold?” Jack asked.

  “I have no fuckin’ clue. I don’t know shit about gold or stocks,” Geoff answered. He looked around, and everyone else shrugged.

  “Google it, I guess?” he said, looking to Gavin.

  “Guys, I got a picture of someone who might be Joel,” Jack said.

  Everyone leaned in closer to the table and Jack flipped the laptop around. The woman in the picture was conventionally attractive, slender with blonde hair. She was the focus of the photograph. In the back, however, there was two guys and a girl sitting at the bar. One of the guys was recognized as the man from the barn. The other, however, was tallish with black hair and a narrow face. He was dressed decently, not overly fancy, in a sweater and jeans. Appropriate attire for a bar. The caption read ‘Birthday girl!’ followed by some colorful heart emojis.

  “The date matches up with the one in the journal,” Michael said. “That’s the guy from the barn so that must be Joel.”

  “What do we do with this now? I mean, we know what he looks like but that’s all we’ve got. And we don’t even know if he’s part of the actual gang,” Ryan said.

  “Look into him more. No one found his Facebook? So he must not have one. He’s, what, 20, 30? Even my mom has a Facebook, so that’s a little odd. He invests in gold, and is apparently so passionate about it that he goes on rants about it,” Geoff said. “Michael, keep looking for any mentions of Joel. Everyone else, try to find any trace of this guy. I’m going to call some people I know.” He stood and walked out of the room.

  They searched for awhile. Gavin broke into the city hall of records site and searched the housing records, birth certificates, even fishing license for every Joel. None of the pictures in the files matched up with the guy in the picture.

  “I can’t find a single thing on this guy. I just looked through every record of every guy named Joel in the city and not a single damned thing,” Gavin said.

  “So he’s definitely involved in some illegal thing,” Michael said. “And fairly high up if he erased every trace of himself from the hall of records. Foot soldiers and petty thieves don’t do this.”

  They were quiet for a minute, wondering what to do next.

  “Hey, the girls online. Should I message her?” Jack asked.

  Everyone turned to her quietly, wondering if that was a good idea.

  “Yeah,” Ryan muttered after a moment. “Just be careful what you say.”

  “Say.. ‘Hey, who was that guy you were going out with a while ago. Joel. What was his last name?’” Ray said.

  Jack gave him a hesitant look before looking to everyone else for confirmation. “Alright.”

  She typed quickly then hit enter to send.

  It took a moment for the girl to respond. “She asked why.”

  “‘I just forgot and it’s been bugging me.’”

  A few minutes later, the chime rang. “Heyman. His last name is Heyman.”

  Gavin typed the name into Google and hit enter. Not much popped up. Joel Heyman wasn’t a particularly unique name, but Gavin couldn’t find any images to put a name to a face.

  “Nothing. Someone should run and tell Geoff we got his last name.”

  Michael volunteered, racing down the hall.

 


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meetings

  Geoff called in a few favors from people around town to try to get information on this Joel Heyman. They retired for the day, opting to wait until Geoff’s resources returned with info to do anything else.

  Ryan and Gavin were in Ryan’s room relaxing at the end of the day. Ryan was reading quietly while Gavin watched Netflix on his laptop. Since the living room was filled with computers and other things they couldn’t watch tv in there.

  “So, what do you think of everything?” Gavin asked. Ryan looked over at him and Gavin paused it.

  “Of what?”

  “The situation. Joel, those guys. What’s your opinion. Do you have any theories?”

  Ryan shrugged. “I don’t like to assume anything before I have solid evidence.”

  “Good idea. I do think Joel’s the leader of some gang though. Why else would there be not a single file on him?”

  Ryan leaned down and kissed him. “Let’s keep work out of our bedroom, alright?”

  “Hmm, another good idea.” Gavin was pliant under Ryan’s touch. Any further words he had fell dead off his tongue as he leaned to Ryan. Ryan’s hands went down to Gavin’s thigh and he used it to pull Gavin closer. Ryan’s mouth trailed down to suck a mark into Gavin’s neck.

  Gavin pulled away to set aside his laptop before pulling Ryan on top of him. Ryan’s hands slid up his shirt and Gavin sat up enough to let him pull it off. He leaned down and trailed kisses over Gavin’s body, and when he reached the hem of his boxers he looked up at him. Gavin nodded and let him take them off.

  Ryan’s mouth was warm over his thighs. Gavin leaned into every kiss, bite over his skin. He was a moaning mess within minutes.

  “Ryan, please,” he gasped, hips raising. Ryan’s hands gripped his thighs and pulled him apart more.

  “Since you said please,” Ryan said before talking Gavin in his mouth, slowly. It took a moment, but Ryan had taken all of Gavin’s length into his mouth. Gav could feel the back of Ryan’s throat on the tip of his cock.

  “Jesus Rye,” Gavin moaned. Ryan pulled out all the way. Gavin’s hips moved up, trying to keep the friction. Ryan took a deep breath before going back on. He couldn’t go quite as far but he substituted with his hand around Gavin’s base.

  Gavin didn’t last long. He warned Ryan but Ryan didn’t react. He swallowed his load easily, every drop. Gavin watched incredulously. His mind was fuzzy from the afterglow, but Ryan was still straining in his boxer.

  “Sit up,” Gavin muttered. “I can’t-”

  “I know, your hand is fine.”

  Gavin spat into his palm and reached into Ryan’s boxers. He used one arm to cling to Ryan’s shoulders, holding him tight.

  “Fuck, Gav,” Ryan moaned, right by Gavin’s ear. Gavin shuddered, going faster.

  Ryan came after a minute or so. He moaned deeply, fingers digging in Gavin’s hips hard enough to leave bruises. Gavin didn’t care.

  After clean-up they both collapsed by each other. Ryan was nuzzled into Gavin’s neck and Gavin had scooted backwards until his body was fitted into Ryan's like a key into a lock.

  “I love you, Gav,” Ryan whispered.

  Gavin felt a flutter in his stomach, and he couldn’t hold back the broad smile.

  “I love you too, Rye.”

~

  “My guys came back with some info about Joel,” Geoff announced. His voice had a happy tilt to it. Everyone turned to face him immediately. “One, that’s not his alias. Two he is very very wealthy, and gold investing is his laundering scheme. However, that is how he got his start. Three, he does run a gang but the guys we offed weren’t official members. They were potential recruits running drugs for him to another gang. He mostly manages merc contracts, selling mercs and whatnot. He only dabbles in drug peddling. Apparently he’s pretty new to the scene, but he’s pretty efficient and already took over another city up north.”

  Everyone was quiet a minute, absorbing the information. “What’s the gameplan?” Michael asked, breaking the silence.

  “I’ve arranged a meeting with him to discuss some things. Ryan and Michael, you’ll be coming with me as my guards. I can’t bring too much with me. We’ll all be searched, probably, so no cameras, mics, etc. And they’ll probably recognize you, Ryan.”

  Ryan grinned. “When’s the meeting?”

  “Next monday. Gives us plenty of time to prepare.”

~

  Ryan was at the gym daily after that. He added it to his routine; jog to the gym, work out for an hour, jog back home. Come Monday he was more in shape than he’d been since his twenties. Gavin appreciated that.

  On the day of the meeting Ryan had to wake up early to prepare. It didn’t take much preparation. He decide to do full face paint that day, just in case something went awry; you didn’t survive Los Santos by being an optimist.

  Gavin woke up halfway through.

  “Woah. Shit Rye you scared the hell out of me.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said. Gavin moved to stand behind him in front of the full body mirror. He slid his arms around his shoulders and looked in the mirror at him.

  “What’s the makeup for anyways,” he asked, examining the paint carefully.

  “Geoff has that meeting with Joel today. The paint is in case we get attacked and my mask comes off.”

  “It’s scary.”

  “That’s the point.”

  Gavin shrugged. So what kind of guard dog are you more like, Jaime or the Hound. You’re not going to betray Geoff so Joel can take over are you.”

  Ryan smiled. “Keep your nerdy references out of our bedroom, please.” After a moment he added, “Who do you think Geoff is more like, Joffrey, Robert, Ned, or Stannis.”

  “Joffrey,” Gavin answered without hesitation.

  “Are you just saying that or do you think he’s really more like Joffrey?”

  Gavin smiled. “You know the answer. Honestly, I want to say Daenerys just cause I want to be a dragon.”

  He turned to face Gavin. “That’s not how it works. The question is who is he most like, not who you want him to be.”

  A knock on the door interrupted their conversation and Ryan dropped it.

  “Come in,” Gav called. He sat on the edge of the bed and watched the door.

  Geoff came in and looked at the two of them. “Wow Ryan you look scary as hell.”

  “That’s the plan,” Ryan said, shrugging.

  “We’ll be heading out in an hour. I just got the coordinates for the location we’ll be meeting in, and it’s two hours from here.”

  “Two hours!” Gavin said.

  “This guy is nothing if not careful.” Geoff shrugged.

  “Alright. I’ll be good to go then,” Ryan said, turning back to the mirror.

  “Awesome. See you then.” Geoff closed the door, and it was just Ryan and Gavin again.

  Gavin liked this. He loved the other guys too, but just him and Ryan was peaceful and nice, like their own little bubble of calmness.

  Ryan finished his makeup and moved to the closet. He had his Vagabond costume wear at the very far end of the closet. It was simple, a couple pair of a jeans, two jackets, the mask and heavy work boots. He kept it in black dry cleaning bags. Gavin figured it was because he didn’t like looking at it all unless he had to.

  “Are you enjoying the view?” Ryan said suddenly. Gavin smiled.

  “Yes, actually.”

  Ryan smiled. “I wish I’d put the paint on later so I could kiss you.”

  Gavin smiled. “You can do it very carefully.”

  Ryan seemed to consider this. He walked over to wear Gavin was and, very carefully, kissed him. When he pulled back Gavin had a slight smear of lack on his lips but other than that everything was fine.

  “I’m already an expert at kissing you with your makeup on,” Gavin remarked.

  Ryan smiled at that before tugging his jacket on.

  They sat in the room for awhile before Geoff knocked and told him it was time to leave. Gavin sighed, ebbs of panic creeping through him.

  “Stay safe, would ya,” he muttered into Ryan’s neck. Ryan hugged him tight.

  “I’ll be fine, Gav. Don’t stress, okay.” He pulled back and kissed Gavin, carefully.

  “I love you,” Gavin said.

  “I love you too.” He smiled. “I’ll be back soon, ‘kay?”

  Gavin nodded. When he left Gavin sat back on the bed and stared at the door. He wondered when this became a thing, getting so worried about Ryan over something he would likely be fine at. He had a gun, plus he was the Vagabond, internationally famous mercenary. He’s been in worse situations and lived. He had the scars to prove it, all over his body.

  But Gavin couldn’t shake the fear.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: I tried to make Joel the villain in this story but i couldn't bring myself to do it


	13. Chapter 13

  The building they were meeting at was a tall bank building in the middle of some city Geoff didn’t catch the name of. It was a light grey building, old and stained by time. A homeless man held his cup out as they passed, unphased by the oddness of the trio; a man in a suit with a handlebar mustache, a man in an old leather aviator jacket and a gun on his belt, and a man in a skull mask.

  Just because of that Michael dropped a $20 in his cup.

  There was no one in the bank except for a single teller. She told the 3 to go to the very top floor, floor 14. They took the elevator up as far as it would go, floor 13.

  Floor 14 led to a hallway. A sign taped to the entryway told them to go to the very back door. They followed Geoff hesitantly, both keeping their hands near their guns.

  They opened the door and were greeted by two men, one sitting in a chair and the other standing behind him. There was no windows, the only light being from one lamp on the ornate wooden desk. There were several papers laid out, along with two pens.

  “Joel,” the man standing said. He had a thick beard and a nose ring, but dressed in a nice fitted suit.

  The man in the chair turned around and stood.

  “Hey! You’re early,” Joel said.

  “No they aren’t. It’s 8 o'clock now,” the man behind him said.

  Joel checked his watch and frowned. “My watch is wrong again.”

  “Then get a cellphone asshole it’s 2015.”

  “Adam please, we have guests.”

  Adam rolled his eyes.

  “Anyways,” Joel said. “Have a seat. I was only expecting two so I only got two chairs.”

  “That’s fine, they’ll stand.”

  “Oh hey, you’re the Vagabond huh?” Adam said. He didn’t sound scared, but Joel gave a stricken look before glancing behind Geoff.

  “Woah hey I said you were coming over for a business deal, not to fucking murder me,” Joel said, raising his hands.

  “He won’t hurt you unless you hurt me, don’t worry,” Geoff said. Joel gave a hesitant glance back at Ryan.

  Geoff and Joel shook hands before sitting.

  “Alright, so let’s jump into this. I would like to create a partnership between our teams.”

  Geoff raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

  “Sure. You’re a strong team, I’m a strong team. Together we’d be stronger. I’m more ambitious than my current situation allows.”

  Adam snorted. “That’s an understatement.”

  Joel paused for a moment, took a deep breath, then continued. “Anyways, here’s a contract, sign here if yes.”

  “Woah, we need to talk this over before I sign anything. What would I get out of it?” Geoff said. He read over the contract. It wasn’t legally binding, more for show than anything. He didn’t think Joel would have actual law on his side.

  Joel shrugged. “Friendship,” Joel stated. “Power, money, mercenaries.”

  “What’s the catch? How would we divide any money or land we make?”

  Joel turned to Adam, who shrugged.

  “50/50 sound good? If you sign this contract we’ll give you a bonus of, what, 2 million. And over time you’ll get as many troops as you need. I’m sure your spies told you about my business. I hire out mercenaries for a lot of gangs all over the world. I’m also an extremely wealthy man. You need some extra funding for some grand heist you’re pulling, I’ll loan it to you. The heist is successful you can repay me at 2% interest. Unsuccessful? You only need to pay back half of what was loaned to you. That’s a deal if I ever saw one. The only thing I would need out of the deal was that you guys run the occasional heist for me. You guys would get paid, 50% of total profit. Not including cost of weapons, ammo, various other assorted gear.”

  “What kinds of heists?” Geoff narrowed his eyes.

  “I get people who come to me looking for people to do stuff for them. It’s mostly assassinations. The wife is tired of her husband and wants him gone. Stuff like that. You usually get to choose out of a list. If you don’t see one you like, then you don’t do it. You’re not getting a monthly sum of money so you’re not obligated to do anything.”

  It sounded good. Joel was a powerful force he’d like to have on his side, but he was still a sketchy character he knew nothing about.

  “What about the coke?” Geoff asked hesitantly.

  “The coke?” Joel turned to face Adam, who muttered something in his ear. “Oh! That was a setup. Don’t worry about it, it was just to get your attention.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah. Tell some guys to go guard some drugs. They were people I’ve been meaning to get out of my hair anyways. Not a huge loss on my part.”

  “That was millions in drugs,” Geoff said, though he knew he shouldn’t have.

  “I’m a wealthy man, Geoff.”

  “What about my team. I would still be their boss, right?”

  “Nothing would change except you’d have someone who could help you with your heists or provide you with heists should you need them. You would still have complete control over your team. I wouldn’t try to take away or add anyone at any time.”

  “Can I think about it? This is a decision I should discuss with my team.”

  “Sure. Try to come to an agreement within the week though, I’m extremely busy all next week.”

  “Alright. Uh, do you have any questions for me? ”

  “Nope. I know what you have to offer. I’ve followed the Fake AH Crew for awhile.”

  Geoff was silent for a moment, talking in the information. “Okay. Could I take a copy of the contract?”

  “Sure, go ahead,” Joel said. He leaned back in his chair. “Adam will give you contact information. I don’t have my own cell phone so he’ll respond to any text or phone calls. If you ask for me though he can relay messages.”

  Adam handed them a card. It was plain white with just a phone number on it in black courier font.  

  “Okay,” Geoff said. “Uh, thank you for meeting with me. I will consider your offer with my crew and get back to you as soon as possible.”

  Joel stood and shook his hand firmly. “Text Adam if you have any questions.”

~  
  “What do you guys think?” Geoff asked.

  “It sounds pretty good. We could use the help on heists, but I don’t know,” Ryan said. He turned over the contract again. “It’s pretty solid, no ‘between the lines’ or small print. From his angle, what he wants is more cash. He’s got a business type thing going on. You sign up with him, he gets word out that you’re taking cash for jobs, publicity, and he just wants half. He said end price is negotiable if you think you deserve more.”

  “That’s it?” Michael asked. “Just 50%. Well we’re good on money, do we really need to sign with him to get more. I’m pretty sure we don’t need publicity.”

  “Well it’s really heists we’d be getting more of. That’s what I’m thinking. I mean, we can’t just keep hitting banks. More jobs and diversity would be nice,” Ryan said. “I’m already getting bored and I’ve only done one with you guys.”

  Geoff looked torn. “Let’s talk about it when we get back, okay. I’ll need to get the B Team's opinion on this too.”

  “I’ll text them, tell them to be there when we get back,” Michael said. He pulled out his phone and sent off a group message.

  Geoff glanced back at him in the rearview mirror. “What’d you guys think about Joel and Adam?”

  “I don’t know what to think. They seem pretty close to each other, co owners or something,” Ryan said.

  “My runners said Adam was Joel’s partner, but he’s more low key. Joel is the prime money maker, but Adam plays a big role. Joel usually keeps Adam out of this stuff so they didn’t get much on him.”

  ““It wouldn’t make that big a difference, right? If we signed under them?”

  “Not really. We’d just have more heists. I think. I’ll get my guy to read over the contract before I sign it.”

  “Let me look at it,” Ryan said, and Geoff pulled it out and handed it to him. He read through it, all 5 pages. “Looks pretty solid to me. Doesn’t look like we can accidently sell off our souls or anything.”

  Michael chortled in the back but Geoff looked too distracted to notice Ryan’s joke. His fingers around the wheel were white and shaking slightly.

  “Geoff,” Ryan said softly. Geoff glanced over at him. Their eyes met and he relaxed slightly.

  “Sorry. This is just kinda..”

  “It’s fine, we’ll talk it over with everyone and work it out. I can text Adam for more details if you like.”

  “Thanks Ryan, but let’s just see how things play out at the meeting.”

 


	14. Chapter 14

  Geoff was absolutely strung, and the 50-50 vote wasn’t helping.

  “Okay, guys, this is a big deal. Let me explain the terms one more time, okay. Please listen.” There was no humor in Geoff’s voice. It was smaller too, less commanding and more desperate.

  He read the contract again. His guy, a good lawyer, had checked and double checked for any loopholes Joel might use against them but it was written honestly.

  The answer was slightly swayed, but not enough for Geoff to make a comfortable decision. “Okay guys, let’s sleep on it. Please think about this, okay. This is a big deal, and I don’t want to do anything that would make anybody unhappy.” After a moment he added “Heyman wants our decision within the week.”

  Jack reached out and rubbed his back gently.

~

  Things were quiet around the house. Geoff stayed in his room most of the time, reading and rereading the contract. He’d made contact with Adam and was discussing every minor detail he could think of.

  Ryan and Jack were talking in the kitchen over mugs of coffee. It was still early in the morning, after Ryan’s jog. Gavin was still asleep in their room and Ray and Michael hadn’t come out in a few days.

  “Is he okay?” Ryan asked.

  Jack shrugged. “I don’t know. I mean, he’s stressed about it. He built this team from the ground up. It’s his life’s work. Stuff like this tears at him, you know. Even on heists. No one really knows but whenever he comes up with a heist he stays up entire nights trying to find the safest way to do it.”

  Ryan didn’t respond, only cast his gaze down into his mug thoughtfully. Geoff was a good boss. He truly loved his crew, and it showed in their success rate. When he’d first joined he made sure Ryan knew how close everyone was, and how things worked. He made sure Ryan knew that he’d die for his team. Ryan had believed him then, when they’d first met, and he certainly believed him now.

  “What do you think of all this?” Ryan asked after a moment of silence.

  “I think we should sign. I read over the contract and I think it would be a good idea. Geoff is worried it would neuter us, turn the crew into just another merc-for-hire and undo all the shit we’ve worked on for so long. I don’t think so, though,” Jack said. “What about you.”

  Ryan sipped his coffee. “Pro signing. I read over the contract, and Joel and Adam didn’t seem the type to screw someone over,” Ryan said. “Besides that, I think we could off them if it came to it.”

  Jack grinned, but didn’t respond.

  “Do you think we’ll end up signing?” Ryan asked.

  Jack thought for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah.”

~

  The room was dead silent, and tense as hell. Geoff was outside, talking quietly to Jack, and in less than 5 minutes a vote would ensue and the fate of the team would be revealed.

  Gavin was quiet for the most part. His head was on Ryan’s shoulder and he was squeezing Ryan’s hand perhaps a bit too hard but Ryan wouldn’t stop him. He was one of the earliest members in the crew, behind Jack and Geoff. He’d joined when he turned 20, and now 7 years later the crew was like an extension of himself.

  Jack walked in, followed by Geoff. The slam of the door startled everyone, but no one said anything still.

  Geoff looked over the crowd before swallowing nervously. Gavin leaned forward to watch Geoff, their hands still joined between them.

  “Alright crew,” Geoff started hesitantly. “We’re going to take a vote. First I want to know how strongly you guys feel about it. If the end result doesn’t coincide with your vote, please raise your hands if you would leave the team.”

  There was a tense moment, but no one raised their hands. Geoff relaxed visibly, a soft sigh coming from his parted lips. “Thank you,” he said. “I’m sorry, beforehand, if you don’t get your way. Please understand that I really wish that I could please everyone here, and I thought for a very long time on this. I won’t state my stance on the matter, to remain neutral.”

  Geoff was silent for a moment. “Alright crew. Raise your hand if you’re against the signing.”

  5 hands raised.

  “Raise your hand if you’re for the signing.”

  The remaining 9 raised their hands, including all of the main crew.

  There was a pause where no one said anything, did anything. Geoff sighed again, running his hand through his hair. “That settles it,” Geoff said. His chest heaved and he grabbed the pen. He looked up momentarily, like he was going to say something but couldn’t muster up any words. Resolutely, he signed his name on the dotted line.

  “Alright crew, it’s done. I’ll arrange a meeting with Heyman tomorrow. I hope you’re happy, whatever you voted for. For the record, I don’t personally think any big changes will come our way soon. The agreement Joel and I discussed earlier this week, and Adam and I throughout the week, made it sound like all this was for was extra supplies, more cash, and more heist options. However, If anyone has anything they'd like to ask Joel, just tell me and I’ll ask him during the meeting.”

  The room cleared out fast. There was a low murmur of people discussing the outcome as they shuffled out. The main crew stayed behind with Geoff, and when the B Team was out they all turned to him.

  “So,” Michael asked. “How do you feel?”

  “Like shit,” Geoff muttered. “Jesus, I need a drink. Let’s go out tonight. It’s on me.”

 


	15. Chapter 15

 The bar was some loud sports bar, not typically their scene but Geoff insisted they had the best whiskey. Ray and Ryan took their place at the end of the bar away from the quickly drunkening crowd at the end with their diet cokes. This bar gave designated drivers free sodas, so they weren’t completely bored.  The large tv was showing some hockey game. No one seemed to care too much about it, more focussed on getting hammered. It was a quiet crowd.

  Ryan and Ray watched absently. It was a pretty close game, with home team being only a few points behind the other. A few people in the crowd were getting heated as the night progressed and the alcohol flowed. Ryan and Ray placed bets on who they thought would win, and when the game ended Ray was $30 richer.

  The bartender switched it to the news afterwards. It was a fairly slow news day so most of the reports were on random events happening around town. Ryan and Ray started their own conversation, turning back to the bar and away from the tv.

  Suddenly there was yelling, and Ryan and Ray looked over just in time to see Jack punch a man in the jaw.

  Things escalated rather quickly after that. 3 other men, who’d been yelling something Ryan just couldn’t make out, lunged. The others in the crew got involved. Ryan was tempted to stay out of it. They were all drunk, it would settle itself soon. However, he caught a glimpse of dull steel on the opponent’s side.

  “They’re armed,” Ray said, seeing it too.”

  Ryan and Ray shared a momentary glance before joining in the frenzy.

  Ryan had planned to just get the other’s out of it and neutralize the fight. However, it only took a solid blow to his stomach and suddenly his fist was connected to someone else's jaw. He knocked the man down and moved along, trying to regain a sense of self control before he accidentally took things too far. He didn’t get in many bar fights, and when he fought he fought for blood.

  Ray wasn’t good at fistfights, but he was good at not being seen. He navigated the crowd carefully looking for a familiar face.

  Gavin was the first he found as he was slumping over the bar cradling a bruised jaw.

  "Dude, you alright?" Ray said.

  "Yeah, I backed out of the fight as soon as it started. I got shoved by some pleb though."

  Gavin let his hand down and Ray inspected it. It was a little bruised, but nothing that wouldn’t fade in a couple days’ time. He opened his mouth to tell Gavin so but was interrupted by a gunshot.

  The bar fell still, and Ray jerked around and scanned the crowd, panicked.

  Geoff was okay, Jack was okay, Michael was okay. Ryan wasn't. He looked pissed, hand covered in red and clasped to his shoulder. But he wasn’t dead.

  "Rye!" Gavin shouted in horror, but Ray held him back. He knew what came next.

  "Gav, go to the car," Ray said.’

  Ryan pulled his gun and shot the assailant in the head, clean between the eyes. After the body crumpled to the floor the crowd burst to life. People rushed to the exits, screaming. The crew moved too, trying to blend in. Gavin found Ryan, letting him lean on him for support and asking frantically if he was okay. He assured him that he was fine, but his strained voice and the blood leaking from his wound betrayed him.

  The walk to the car felt like torture. The wound felt like a knife in his shoulder, digging deeper and twisting as it went. His vision was black around the edges and he felt ebbs of exhaustion creeping through him.

  The car ride was even worse, and every bump jerked his arm in the most painful way. Gavin was white as a sheet beside him, and he was sure his grip on Gavin's hand was painful but Gavin didn't seem to notice, or didn't care.

  "Okay, Ryan," Geoff said, glancing up at him in the rear view mirror. "My guy is waiting to meet us at the apartment. He'll patch you up."

  "I'm still going tomorrow," Ryan said.

  Geoff looked up and started to say something, but Gavin interrupted him.

  "Ryan," he said sternly, a warning.

  "I'm fine. I just need this stitched up, then I'll be good. I only need one arm to shoot."

  Jack turned in her seat. "Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, what if something goes wrong? It wouldn't be yourself you'd be endangering."

  "I worked alone for 7 years, Jack. It wouldn't be my first time working with a gunshot wound."

  Geoff shrugged. "He's got a good point." Gavin and Jack both scowled.

  "Rye, please," Gavin said quietly, leaning in close. "Can't you rest. You just got shot, for Christ sake."

  Ryan didn't look over, just kept his eyes down. "I'll be fine, Gav. I've been worse."

  A hand moved Ryan’s head to face Gavin’s and he flinched. “Rye,” Gavin gave him a pleading look.

  “I’m sorry, but I need to,” Ryan responded. Gavin looked desperate, but he obviously didn’t want to argue with Ryan. He was still buzzed, and Ryan was bleeding out in the back of Geoff’s car. This could wait.

~

  Ryan and Geoff didn’t get back until 2am. Gavin was in his bed, but he wasn’t sleeping. A part of Ryan had expected him to move back to his own room, out of anger or something. It was nice seeing him there.

  When Ryan came in, though, he moved to him quickly.

  “Rye, are you okay.”

  Ryan smiled and pulled him to him. “Gav I’m fine. If I had a dollar for every time I’ve gotten shot, well, I wouldn’t have to do this job anymore.”

  Gav didn’t smile at his joke. He wrapped his arms carefully around Ryan’s waist and pulled him in for a hug. “Dammit Rye, don’t ever do that again?”

  Ryan chortled. “I didn’t ask to get shot, Gav.” He pulled Gavin tighter to his with his un-maimed arm.

  “Let’s go to bed. I’m bloody exhausted,” Gavin muttered.

  “You didn’t have to wait up for me.”

  “I wanted to.”

  The pain meds helped him to sleep. Gavin curled into his chest probably helped more.

  It had startled him to see someone so worried about him, and it wasn’t just Gavin. When he woke up for his jog Geoff had stopped him at the door.

  “You’re going to bust a stitch man, can’t you wait at least a week?” he said. He looked genuinely concerned, so Ryan obeyed and joined him in the living room.

  Jack had brought him painkillers with his coffee, and she watched him take them. Ray and Michael had both asked him how he was feeling before even saying good morning, and Ray had refilled his mug before Ryan could get up to do it himself.

  It was weird, but he liked it.

 


	16. Chapter 16

  “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” Geoff asked, turning back to face him as they climbed in the car. It was a sunny morning, albeit a little cloudy. There was a pleasant breeze blowing through the palm trees outside Geoff’s house, and Ryan was enjoying the nice weather. He wasn’t superstitious, but good weather generally meant things would be good that day.

  The crew, however, was tense. People asked him every five seconds how he was feeling. It was nice to have people worry about him, but he wasn’t a child. It was just a gunshot wound.

  “Yeah, don’t worry about me,” Ryan said for the hundredth time.

  Geoff laid off during the drive, but Ryan didn’t miss the occasional glance his way in the rearview mirror.

  The meeting space this time was different from the last. It was to the North of Los Santos, in Sacramento, a nearly 6 hour drive. This was apparently the official building of Heyman and Ellis, a large grey thing, concrete and newly built from the looks of it. It was also completely empty, with not even a receptionist this time. Ryan did notice several security cameras everywhere, leaving not a single blind spot in the room.

  Joel texted Geoff the instructions to get to their floor. It was an elevator ride up to floor 14, then a couple flights of stairs to floor 16.

  “You going to be okay up all these steps?” Michael asked, and Ryan nodded silently.

  They went slow, letting Ryan set the pace. It took them awhile, but they eventually made it, Ryan still intact.

  The top floor was lit purely by the outside light, but the walls were all glass, so the natural light was abundant. There was a desk near the back of the room, and the only door led to the bathroom. Adam was sitting at the desk, Joel nowhere to be seen. He was on his phone, scrolling through something boredly. Geoff cleared his throat and he looked up, startled, then pressed a button on the desk phone.

  “Joel, they’re here.” He stood and waved his arm out. “Hey, have a seat. Joel will be up in a minute or so. We set out 3 chairs this time.”  
  Ryan and Michael didn’t sit. Geoff sat in the middle seat.

  “What’s it like working here?” Geoff asked. Adam shrugged.

  “I dunno, I don’t really work much really. Joel does the money stuff and I just advise him. It’s a pain in the ass working with Joel, though. He’s stubborn as fuck. Sometimes it’s a good thing but most of the time it sucks.”

  Michael snorted behind him. “I can relate.”

  Geoff turned to glare at him.

  Joel emerged from the stairwell and took his place behind the desk. “Hey, sorry I’m late. Business stuff.”

  “No problem. We’re a little early anyways,” Geoff said. He pulled his briefcase on the desk and took out the envelope with the contract in it.

  “So, what’d everyone decide?”

  “We decided to sign,” Geoff said, no hesitation. He pulled the contract out of the manilla and handed it over. Ryan noticed the slump of his shoulders as he did so.

  Joel skimmed through the contract, making sure every dotted line had Geoff’s name on it. “Great!” he said suddenly. He put the contract in his desk drawer and looked at Geoff. “So, welcome to the company.” He reached out and offered a hand for Geoff to shake. Geoff accepted hesitantly. “Now, here’s how this works.”

  Joel spoke for a very long time and Ryan couldn’t focus. The painkillers were wearing off and the faint pain was turning into a persistent throb. Standing completely still with no distractions wasn’t helping either.

  He moved his hand to his pocket and grabbed out the sandwich bag of painkillers from his pocket. He looked up and noticed Geoff was watching him now. He’d tried to be stealthy but Geoff was like a hawk. Joel looked panicked, like Ryan was about to shoot him on the spot.

  “What?”

  Joel looked back to Geoff quickly. “I-uh-where were we?”

  “List?” Geoff replied. He turned back to Ryan and gave him a worried look, glancing at the pills in his hand.

  Ryan pulled up the bottom of his mask just enough to swallow the pills. When he tugged it back down he noticed Adam Ellis staring at him with curiosity. He hadn’t done his face paint that day. His dominant hand was the one that was injured and, while he loved Gavin so much it almost hurt, he didn’t trust the lad to not draw dicks all over his face. So he went without.

  He wondered vaguely if his jaw was enough to identify him by. He didn’t think so but he also wondered if it mattered anymore. The police, sure, but he felt safe with the crew. He knew they could get him out of a bad situation

  He met Adam’s gaze and held it for a moment before Adam looked away boredly. Adam was a mystery. He wondered why Joel was so terrified of him, even freezing up when his hand went anywhere near his gun, and Adam would lock eyes with him and lose interest after a moment.

  It took a couple minutes for the painkillers to set in. In that time he didn’t hear a thing Joel or Geoff said.

 The meeting lasted an hour. They smoothed out every detail, set up a meeting schedule for the future (first monday of every month) and Joel gave him a stack of paperwork to read through and sign. It was mostly for purposes of documentation. They all had health insurance for one, and better doctors. Because of this they needed each member of the team, even the B Team, to be documented and accounted for.

  “Anyways, I texted my lawyer,” Geoff said as they exited the building. The briefcase was heavy with papers now, and Geoff was slowing behind them. “He’s going to look through everything then we’ll get started on it all. The bar for the health insurance is 2mil. That’s crazy,” Geoff said. “We’re like white collar criminals now, not just some people who rob banks sometimes. I think as soon as Ryan’s healed up we should accept a job.”

  “I’m fine,” Ryan said. He’d only caught part of the conversation. A side effect of the pills, he assumed.

  “Okay, but I don’t want to take a risk.” Geoff looked over at Ryan pointedly. Ryan didn’t argue.

~  
  Ryan woke up in pain around 3am. Gavin woke up too, and was wordlessly getting up and bringing back the bottle of painkillers and a water bottle. “I read somewhere that if you dry swallow pills,” he started, pouring two out into his palm, “You can burn a hole in your throat.” He handed them to Ryan.

  Ryan swallowed the pills back and laid back down, pulling Gavin with him. The lad rested carefully on his uninjured side, making sure not to jostle Ryan in any way that could hurt him.

  “I love you,” Ryan said.

  Gavin smiled, burrowing deeper into his side. “I love you too.”

  Gavin fell asleep easily, and Ryan was quick to follow him.

 


	17. Chapter 17

  “On three. One, two, three. Go!” Geoff said into the mic.

  They were on the highway exiting Los Santos. Ahead of them was an armoured car, gaudy and green. Ahead of the car was Gavin and Geoff. To the right it Michael. Off to the left was Jack and Ryan in a cargobob, perched on top of some random building. On Geoff’s count she took off from the top of the building and headed to their position.

  Geoff slammed the brakes and positioned the car so it was trapped where it was. Michael leaned out of the car with a rifle and shot the drivers dead quickly. He ducked down in the car as a hail of bullets rained upon them from the guarding officers.

  “Surrender now or face death,” they yelled in the megaphones. Geoff sniggered over the earpieces.

  “Ray?” Michael said into his earpiece.

  “Hang on, bullet proof windows. Inconsiderate assholes. They’re getting out now,” he said. A minute later, “Okay you’re good. Hurry up, though. The fuzz is on their way. I hear choppers too.”

  “Cargobob status?” Geoff said into his earpiece.

  “Nearly there. Get ready,” Ryan said.

  Michael climbed out to duck beside the truck. He peeked around and searched the endless line of cars for a cop. “Ray, how close are the cops?”

  “They’re on their way now. You’ve got 5 minutes before they get here.”

  They heard Jack before she announced her arrival. Michael climbed on top of the truck and connected the two quickly. “Jack you’re good.”

  “Cops are here,” Ray said quickly.

  As soon as Michael was in the car Geoff sped off. Jack was gaining altitude slowly, the truck weighing the bob down. Ryan was leaning out of the side with a rocket launcher, watching for police choppers. Under cover and unsuspected by the police was Ray in a stolen suv.

  “Everyone safe?” Michael asked. “Ray, you a good distance away?”

  “Yeah. You’re free to blow.”

  And then there was an explosion. Even from 100 feet above Ryan could hear the startled screams of passersby. Some police sirens came to a sudden halt, but a few still remained, damaged and warped. They shot at the bob but the attack of 3 policemen with weak rifles wasn’t enough to damage them. Ryan leaned back in the vehicle.

  “They’re calling in backup. How you doin’ Jack?” Geoff asked through the earpiece.

  “Fuckin great. We’ll be gone before the backup arrives.”

  “Ryan. you good?”

  “Yep. I see choppers headed our way, but I’m waiting till they get closer.”

  “Ray?”

  “Hells yeah! I’m halfway to base as we speak.”

  “Ryan, to the left,” Jack said.

  The helicopter exploded like a firework in sparks of orange and white. Metal rained upon the field beneath them like rain. Ryan grinned, then leaned back in the bob and laughed.

  “Nice shot,” Jack said, smiling.

  “Thanks,” Ryan replied, grinning wide. “I wish we’d got these sooner. Damned convenient.”

  Ryan reloaded and shot down another chopper.

  “Status updates,” Geoff said.

  “We’re losing the choppers. There’s one less, I’m just waiting for it to get closer. Then we can head to base,” Ryan said.

  “I’m about 2 minutes from base,” Ray said.

  “Alright. We should get there in 5. We’re just making sure the cops can’t follow us,” came Geoff.

  Ryan eyed the last chopper carefully. They were firing on them, but staying just enough out of range that he couldn’t be sure he’d hit them. They were smart.

  “Jack, slow down a tad. I can’t get a clear on the last chopper,” Ryan said. “I might be able to snipe the pilot though if you can veer left.”

  “Be careful Rye,” she said, then angled the bob so he could shoot.

  This angle was also optimal for the gunner. Ryan had to take him first to avoid getting shot. It was an easy mark though, only hitting him after two tries. The pilot was easier, unable to move too much.

  “Alright, that’s it. Now let's disappear.”

~

  “Congrats guys!” Geoff said. “Our first successful heist under Heyman!”

  The whole crew was stood in the living room of their hideout just out of city limits. The table in the middle of the circle of people was stacked high with cash. Joel’s clean up crew had disposed of the cargobob and the armoured truck. They were successful, and rich, even after Joel took his portion.

  There was a collective breath of relief, then they all smiled.

  “We should celebrate,” Jack said. “Maybe not at a bar. Maybe we stay inside tonight.”

  Geoff raised an eyebrow at her. “What have you got in mind?”

  “I don’t know. Let’s get shitfaced here, though, where we can’t start a bar fight,” she said quietly, trailing off at the last part.

  “Good idea, Jack,” Ryan quipped, grinning.

  Geoff pulled out his most expensive champagne and the crystal wine glasses. Ray filled two with coke and handed one to Ryan.

  The night was warm, comfortable. The room was filled with idle chatter and banter, everyone laughing and enjoying the night. In his 34 years of life he couldn’t remember ever feeling this safe, content. He had friends for the first time in a long time. He was in love for the first time, period.

  He didn’t use to care whether he lived or died. He was reckless, achieving his set goals by any means possible. Now he couldn’t even relate to the person he use to be, the cruel, methodical Vagabond. That use to scare him, terrify him even, but he realized he was happy he wasn’t like that anymore. He cared, for the first time in a long time. He had something to live for now, in his crew, in his partner, in himself.

  Beside him, Gavin laughed at some dumb joke Ray told him. Across from him Geoff poured his drink while telling some cheesy line. Jack buried her face in her hands at Geoff’s line, groaning. Michael was leaned back in his seat already tipsy and grinning at the crew in general. Ryan felt truly content, for the first time in his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like it? Love it? Hate it? Tell [me.](http://desertsongs.co.vu/)
> 
> Writing endings is hard :/


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